DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Lord Lieutenants

Kevan Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish a list of the public engagements of the Lord Lieutenant for County Durham for the last 12 months.

Chloe Smith: The activities of lords lieutenant are not the responsibility of central Government. It is a matter for each lord lieutenant to determine how he/she carries out his/her role. Accordingly, it is up to each lord lieutenant to promote honours as they see fit for their lieutenancy and to conduct public engagements appropriate to their role and relevant to their county.

West Lothian Question

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of progress on a resolution of the West Lothian Question; and when he expects the Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons will publish its report.

Chloe Smith: The coalition programme for government includes a commitment to establish a commission to consider this issue. In January, the Government established a Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons. The terms of reference of the Commission are:
	To consider how the House of Commons might deal with legislation which affects only part of the United Kingdom, following the devolution of certain legislative powers to the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the National Assembly for Wales.
	The Commission has started its work and will make its recommendations to the Government by the end of the current parliamentary session. The Commission has received written evidence and held oral evidence sessions across the UK. Information on the evidence received can be found at:
	http://tmc.independent.gov.uk

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Michael Connarty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect of air passenger duty on UK airports.

Sajid Javid: The Government undertook an extensive consultation on air passenger duty last year. The consultation gathered views and evidence from stakeholders, which included views on the affect of APD. Over 500 responses were received from a wide range of stakeholders, including from airports, businesses, and consumers. The Government published its response to the consultation, including a summary of views received, on 6 December 2011.

Child Benefit

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 26 April 2012, Official Report, column 1064W, on income tax: rates and bands, what advice his Department has given to basic rate taxpayers who will become higher rate taxpayers in 2013-14 on their potential responsibilities relating to child benefit.

David Gauke: The high income child benefit charge applies to individuals with an income above £50,000 where they or their partner receives child benefit.
	The information requested was provided in response to parliamentary question number 128153 on 20 November 2012, Official Report, column 433W:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121120/text/121120w0002.htm#12112048002186

Employee Benefit Trusts

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will review the maximum savings limit for HM Revenue and Customs-approved share plans; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what proportion of (a) ISA participants and (b) SAYE share plan participants saved the maximum annual allowance in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(3)  if he will make it his policy to increase maximum savings limits for HM Revenue and Customs-approved share plans at least in line with inflation on an annual basis;
	(4)  if he will review the minimum holding period for share incentive plans, examining the estimated effect of reducing the minimum period to three years; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what steps he plans to take to address declining participation levels in (a) SAYE and (b) all-employee share incentive plans.

David Gauke: Information on the number of Save As You Earn (SAYE) participants who contributed the maximum £250 per month under the scheme is not available. However, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs estimate that for SAYE options granted in 2010-11, the average amount contributed by participants was less than half of the maximum. Further details on the cost and use of SAYE can be found on the HMRC website at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/share-schemes/table6-3.pdf
	The Government has recently consulted on a range of proposals to simplify the tax advantaged employee share schemes and make them more attractive to businesses and employees. This follows recommendations published by the Office of Tax Simplification in March. The Government will announce its response to this consultation shortly.
	The Government keeps the relevant limits for the tax advantaged employee share schemes under review. However, it believes that rather than increasing the current limits, which would only be of benefit to participants who currently contribute the maximum amounts, available resources are better deployed in a package of simplification measures that will benefit a wider range of participants.
	The Government has recently reviewed the minimum tax-free holding period for shares held in a Share Incentive Plan and decided not to proceed with any change. Further details can be found in chapter 5 of the document at:
	customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/downloadFile?contentID=HMCE_PROD1_032132
	Information on the numbers of ISA subscribers saving at the maximum, annual allowance can be found on the HMRC website at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/isas/table9-7.xls

Excise Duties: Fuels

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the merits of extending the rural fuel derogation pilot to Cumbria.

Sajid Javid: Motorists on the Scottish islands and the Islands of Scilly are benefiting from the 5p per litre discount on pump prices since the Government introduced the rural fuel rebate pilot scheme earlier this year.
	The Government will consider whether to seek EU approval for an extension of the scheme to other remote parts of the UK that are likely to display similar characteristics to the islands.

Pensioners: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioners there were in each income quintile in Scotland in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	Estimates on the income distribution are published annually in the Households Below Average Income Series. The latest year of data which is available is for 2010-11. For both tables, three-year periods spanning 2006-07 to 2010-11 have been used as single-year regional estimates are subject to volatility.
	Table 1 shows the number of pensioners in each income quintile in Scotland, in each of the last three years, before housing costs, and Table 2 for after housing costs.
	
		
			 Table 1: Numbers of Pensioners in Scotland (millions), by income quintile, before housing costs, three-year averages 
			  Net equivalised disposable household income  
			  Bottom quintile Second quintile Middle quintile Fourth quintile Top quintile All pensioners (million) 
			 2006-07 to 2008-09 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.9 
			 2007-08 to 2009-10 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.0 
			 2008-09 to 2010-11 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Numbers of Pensioners in Scotland (millions), by income quintile, after housing costs, three-year averages 
			  Net equivalised disposable household income  
			  Bottom quintile Second quintile Middle quintile Fourth quintile Top quintile All pensioners (million) 
			 2006-07 to 2008-09 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.9 
			 2007-08 to 2009-10 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.0 
			 2008-09 to 2010-11 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.0 
			 Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. Net disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes. 3. Figures have been presented on a before housing cost and an after housing cost basis. For before housing costs, housing costs are not deducted from income, while for after housing costs they are. 4. The preferred income measure for pensioners is after housing costs. Around three quarters of pensioners own their own homes and so have to pay out minimal housing costs from their disposable income compared to the current working age population who typically have to cover mortgage or rental housing costs. Considering pensioners' incomes compared to others after deducting housing costs allows for more meaningful comparisons of income between working age people and pensioners, and between pensioners overtime. 5. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 6. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year. Three survey years have been combined because single year estimates are not considered to be sufficiently reliable. 7. Numbers of pensioners have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand pensioners. 8. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 9. Longer time series data on pensioners is available within chapter 6 of the Households Below Average Income report at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai_arc

State Retirement Pensions

Dominic Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the contribution by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury of 2 July 2012, Official Report, column 696, stating that next year a full basic state pension is forecast to be £130 a year higher than under the previous Government's plans, how that forecast was calculated.

David Gauke: The forecast that a full basic state pension will be £130 a year higher in 2013-14 than under the previous Government's plans was based on the annual value of a full basic state pension in 2013-14 under the Government's policy of uprating by the triple lock (i.e. the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5%) each year from 2012-13, compared with the previous Government's policy of uprating the basic state pension by earnings each year from 2012-13. The forecast was based on the OBR's Budget 12 forecasts for CPI and earnings.
	The Government will set out its policy for uprating the basic state pension and other benefits in 2013-14 at the autumn statement.

Tax Avoidance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many prosecutions HM Revenue and Customs has brought against companies for tax avoidance since 2004;
	(2)  how many prosecutions brought by HM Revenue and Customs against companies for tax avoidance have proceeded to court in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Charging decisions and any subsequent prosecution in HMRC matters are carried out by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) upon receipt of evidence submitted by HMRC following criminal investigations. As tax avoidance is not illegal in itself, no cases have been submitted to the CPS for consideration and it follows that no cases have proceeded to court.
	The Government set out its strategy for dealing with avoidance by working to prevent it before it occurs, detecting it early and applying effective counteraction in the document “Tackling Tax Avoidance”, published at Budget 2011. At the 2012 Budget, the Government announced a range of measures to close down tax loopholes and also announced that it would consult on a general anti-abuse rule with a view to legislating in Finance Bill 2013.

Tax Avoidance: Self-employed

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations he has received on and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the IR35 guidance issued in May 2012;
	(2)  when he plans to carry out the next IR35 review; and if he will publish the findings of that review;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the compliance activity and administration of IR35 since the 2011 Budget.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has not received any representations on the IR35 guidance since it was published in May 2012.
	Initial indications show a positive improvement in HMRC's administration of IR35.
	HMRC will be reviewing their new approach to IR35 during summer 2013. The results and any findings of this review will be initially shared with the IR35 Forum and published once they have been finalised.

VAT: Energy

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the Reasoned Opinion of the European Commission on the UK's reduced rate of VAT for energy-saving materials.

David Gauke: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 309W, and on 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 623W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith).

Welfare Tax Credits

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value of tax credit overpayments yet to be paid is.

David Gauke: As of October 2012, the total outstanding amount of tax credits overpayments is £4.7 billion.
	HMRC’s strategy for reducing tax credit overpayments is to continue to focus on getting it right first time. We are developing a greater understanding of the causes of overpayments and continue to re-engineer products and processes to reduce the amount of debt entering the system.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether human rights abuses committed by the Burmese Army in northern Shan State and Kachin State, Burma would provide grounds for investigations of whether war crimes and crimes against humanity may have been committed.

Hugo Swire: We remain seriously concerned about reported human rights abuses committed by the Burmese army and armed ethnic groups in northern Shan and Kachin States. On 27 November, the UN General Assembly Third Committee passed a resolution by consensus that addresses the human rights situation in Burma, including the need for the Burmese Government to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations. That this was agreed by consensus demonstrates for the first time the Burmese Government's commitment to resolving the many areas of concern, including accountability for past human rights abuses. We continue to urge the Burmese Government to meet that commitment. It will be important for any investigations into alleged atrocities to be transparent and thorough, ensuring that those who have committed crimes are held to account for their actions.

Middle East

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that Israel and Palestine comply with international law.

Alistair Burt: We urge all parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.
	It is important that Israel fulfils its obligations under international law. We have consistently condemned Israel's announcements to accelerate settlement building in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) and have called on Israel to reverse these.
	We have also repeatedly made clear to the Israelis our serious concern at the 40% increase last year, as recorded by the UN, in demolitions of Palestinian properties in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Our ambassador to Tel Aviv raised this issue with the Israeli Co-ordinator of Government Activities in the OPTs on 9 October. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; as harmful to the peace process; and, in all but the most limited circumstances, as contrary to international humanitarian law.
	More generally, we continue to have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Israel and the OPTs, which we raise regularly with both Israeli and Palestinian authorities. More details can be found at:
	http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/israel-and-the-opts/

Philippines

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will visit the Philippines to discuss the peace process in that country.

Hugo Swire: The UK has been closely involved in the Mindanao peace negotiations as a member of the International Contact Group supporting the negotiations. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has been in contact with the Philippines Foreign Minister about Mindanao and sent our ambassador in Manila to Mindanao on his behalf to meet the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) when the framework deal was signed. Mindanao will be a significant theme during my forthcoming visit to Manila in December.
	The Foreign Secretary is keen to visit the Philippines in 2013 but the diary is not fixed at present.

World War II: Military Decorations

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give consideration to revising the Government's rules on the acceptance of foreign awards to allow British veterans of the Arctic convoys to receive the Russian Ushakov medal.

Mark Simmonds: Sir John Holmes was invited to undertake further work to implement the recommendations set out in his Military Medals Review published on 17 July 2012. The first phase of the further work has now been completed, covering a number of campaign medals, and this has been submitted for consideration. Further reviews will continue, one of which will be a fresh look at the policy on the acceptance of medals from other countries.
	I am, however, seeking explanations as to whether this rule is necessary and desirable in all circumstances.

EDUCATION

Computers

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether (a) he and (b) his special advisers use any non-departmental issued computers or tablets for official business; and what steps he is taking to ensure that data stored on any such device can be searched in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 21 June 2012
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), uses both equipment supplied by the Department and his own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on his location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems. The Information Commissioner published guidance on 15 December 2011 concerning information held in private email accounts. The Cabinet Office is considering this and will issue further guidance to Departments. The Department will then review its own guidance accordingly, including on the storage of information and data.

Education: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students in Havering took GCSEs; and how many of those students went on to complete A levels in each of the last five years.

David Laws: The information available is shown in the following table. It is a time series of how many young people were in maintained schools in Havering at academic age 15 and how many of these went on to pass at least one A level in the following three years. Academic age is the age at the start of the academic year. Taking the population at age 15 (generally GCSE year) is a good proxy for the population entered for GCSEs in Key Stage 4. For example, in 2011 nearly 98% of those reaching the end of Key Stage 4 in maintained schools in Havering entered both English and maths GCSE.
	
		
			 Pupils in maintained schools in Havering at age 15 going on to achieve at least one A level by age 18 
			   Of whom achieved at least one A level by age 18: 
			 Cohort age 18 in: Size of cohort at age 15 Number Proportion (percentage) 
			 2007 3,070 1,160 38 
			 2008 3,020 1,120 37 
			 2009 3,070 1,170 38 
			 2010 3,080 1,190 39 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 3,050 1,240 41 
			 Source: DFE Matched Administrative Data

email

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether (a) he or (b) his special advisers (i) sent or (ii) received emails relating to the Building Schools for the Future programme through their private email accounts;
	(2)  whether (a) he and (b) his special advisers have used the private email account known as Mrs Blurt to discuss (i) the decision to cancel the Building Schools for the Future Programme in Sandwell and (ii) other Government business since 2010; on how many occasions any such usage took place; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby of 11 January 2012, Official Report, column 317W, on email, whether (a) he and (b) his special advisers used private email accounts to discuss the decision to cancel the Building Schools for the Future programme in Sandwell; and if he will place in the Library a copy of any such item of correspondence.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answers 21 and 26 June 2012
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), and his special advisers use equipment and systems provided by the Department and their own IT equipment as appropriate, depending on their location and circumstances. Where information is generated in the course of conducting Government business, it is stored on departmental systems.

Foster Care

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children live in foster care.

Edward Timpson: The number of looked after children placed in foster care is shown in the following table.
	The information is extracted from the Department's Statistical First Release, Children looked after by local authorities in England, 2012. This can be found at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00213762/children-looked-after-las-england
	Information on the placements of looked after children can found in Table A3.
	
		
			 Children looked after at 31 March placed in foster care(1, 2, 3). years ending 31 March 2008 to 2012, coverage: England 
			 Number 
			 Placement at 31 March 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Foster placements 41,960 43,910 46,890 48,180 50,260 
			       
		
	
	
		
			 Foster placement inside council boundary      
			 With relative or friend 5,000 4,960 5,320 5,390 5,280 
			 With other foster carer      
			 Provided by council 19,580 19,900 20,520 21,040 21,760 
			 Arranged through agency(4) 2,740 3,320 4,020 4,400 5,180 
			       
			 Foster placement outside council boundary      
			 With relative or friend 1,900 1,940 2,080 2,090 2,090 
			 With other foster carer      
			 Provided by council 5,210 5,750 5,970 5,940 6,050 
			 Arranged through agency(4) 7,530 8,040 8,980 9,320 9,900 
			 (1) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements. (3) Amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. (4) This category includes placement provider codes "Other Local Authority provision", "private provision" and "voluntary/third sector provision" for 2009 to 2012. Source: SSDA903

Foster Care: Crimes of Violence

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many foster parents were assaulted by their foster children in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: Figures on assaults by foster children of their foster carers are not collected centrally.
	Foster carers should be supported to manage the needs of their foster children in a way that keeps the child, the foster carer and the foster carer's family safe. If, despite appropriate support, it is clear that the child cannot be cared for within a particular placement in a way that is safe for all concerned, the responsible local authority should review the child's care plan to decide whether they should be moved to a more appropriate placement.

Free School Meals

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils are (a) entitled to free school meals and (b) claim free school meals in each (i) local authority area and (b) region of England.

David Laws: Information is available on the number and percentage of pupils both known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals. This has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Information on the number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals as at January 2012 is published in the Statistical First Release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012' available at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001071/index.shtml

Further Education: Disadvantaged

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many 16 to 18-year-olds who are entitled to free school meals are studying in a general further education or sixth form college in each local authority area in England.

David Laws: holding answer 27 November 2012
	It is not possible to determine whether learners in colleges would meet the current free school meals criteria. However, we can estimate how many 16 to 18-year-olds in FE colleges and sixth form colleges were eligible for free school meals (FSM) when they were in year 11.
	The allocation to LA can be done either on the basis of the location of the college or the address of the student. For example, in 2010/11 there were a total of 735 16 to 18-year-olds studying full-time in colleges located in Middlesbrough who had been eligible for FSM at 15. This compares with 585 16 to 18-year-olds living in Middlesbrough studying full time in colleges who had been eligible for FSM at 15. The answer to this question applies the second of these methods and uses the address of the student in the allocation to LA. This is because some colleges have sites in more than one LA; using the main address of the college would allocate all of the students to only one LA in each such case.
	The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Physical Education: Teachers

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many specialist physical education teachers his Department expects to train in the academic year 2013-14; and how many were trained in each academic year since 2008-09.

David Laws: holding answer 6 November 2012
	Trainee teachers complete their training and obtain qualified teacher status (QTS) over a period of one to four academic years. It therefore follows that the number of physical education trainee teachers expected to complete their training in the 2013/14 academic year will be indicated by the number of trainees entering courses in the preceding four years.
	It is expected that 890 physical education teacher trainees will enter initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2013/14 academic year. This number is higher than the expected figure of 835 in 2012/13. Included within the 2013/14 figure is an interim recruitment target of 555 postgraduate physical education trainees who already hold a degree with a classification 2:1 or above. Both figures for 2013/14 are expected to be finalised early next year.
	The available information on the number of specialist physical education teachers who completed training and obtained QTS in 2008/09 and 2009/10 is presented in the following table.
	Figures for 2010/11 are expected to be published in early 2013.
	
		
			 Physical education trainee teachers completing training and gaining QTS in England, 2008/09 to 2009/10 
			  2008/09 2009/10 
			 Mainstream(1) 1,220 1,240 
			 Employment-based ITT(2) 530 410 
			 (1) Includes universities and other higher education institutions and school-centred ITT (SCITT) but excludes employment-based routes and cases where QTS was granted on assessment without a course of initial teacher training. (2 )Excludes universities and other higher education institutions and SCITT as well as cases where QTS was granted on assessment without a course of initial teacher training. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Teaching Agency Performance Profiles

Physical Education: Teachers

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many graduates have applied to undertake training as specialist physical education teachers in 2013-14; and how many applied to train in each academic year since 2008-09.

David Laws: holding answer 6 November 2012
	Information on the number of applications made through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) for physical education Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England commencing between academic years 2008/09 and 2012/13 is in the following table. Other physical education initial teacher training (ITT) routes are available for graduates but records of applications via these routes are not held centrally.
	The GTTR have not yet begun reporting on applications for PGCE courses starting in academic year 2013/14.
	
		
			 Applications for physical education PGCE courses commencing in academic years 2008/09 to 2012/13 in England. 
			 Academic year of the start of training Applications 
			 2008/09 2,300 
			 2009/10 2,665 
			 2010/11 3,250 
			 2011/12 3,340 
			 2012/13 2,955 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five and include some applications which were subsequently withdrawn. 2. Some applications for postgraduate ITT courses are made independently of the GTTR and are not included in the figures. 3. Membership of the GTTR changes between years, therefore the number of higher education institutions covered in this table varies from year to year. 4. The applications are shown against the year training would commence if accepted. The majority of applications would typically have been made in the previous academic year, though some may be made early in the academic year of training commencing. 5. Applications are counted for providers in England where physical education was at least one of the choices made. Individual applicants can place more than one application, and so the number of applicants may be smaller. Source: GTTR

Primary Education: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding was provided per pupil in state primary schools in (i) York and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber in 1997 and each year since in (A) cash terms and (B) at 2012 prices.

David Laws: The requested information was provided to the hon. Member in the answer given by the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb) on 25 June 2012, Official Report, column 130W. The only change to the answer given in June is that there has been an increase in capital funding in 2012-13 from £8.6 million to £8.7 million for York local authority, and from £289.7 million to £293.7 million for the Yorkshire and Humber region, due to the allocation of short break capital funding being made in August.

Schools: Finance

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what the effect will be of the Government's commitment to extend the minimum funding guarantee beyond 2014-15;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the effect of current funding changes for schools in Mid Derbyshire;
	(3)  how he plans to improve the system of per pupil funding for schools in England;
	(4)  what representations he has received on the effect of his changes to school funding on primary schools;
	(5)  what progress his Department has made on implementing a new national funding formula for schools in England.

David Laws: On 26 March 2012 the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced the Government's intention to introduce a new national funding formula (NFF) during the next spending review period. An NFF would address the current unfairness in the distribution of funding between local authority areas.
	In the meantime, as a first step towards an NFF, we are making a number of changes to the way that local authorities distribute funding to schools. From April 2013, funding will be distributed to schools using much simpler local formulae and on a much more transparent basis.
	The Department has received representation from Derbyshire county council and the head teacher of St Thomas More Catholic School in Derbyshire—replies were sent on 23 July and 24 October respectively—and has received a number of representations from primary schools in England.
	We have assured schools that are concerned about their funding that we will be carrying out a careful review in early 2013 of the 2013-14 school funding arrangements. We will work with schools and local authorities to explore their effect and to consider whether further changes need to be made in April 2014, in order to move us closer towards a national funding formula.
	Schools that see changes in their funding will have some planning certainty through the minimum funding guarantee (MFG). The MFG means that, in most cases, schools will not lose more than 1.5% of their budgets, per pupil, in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
	Although we cannot give an exact figure for the MFG in future years until after the next spending review, we can confirm that an MFG will continue to operate, in order to offer protection against unmanageable falls in school budgets. This will help us to make steady progress towards the goal of a consistent national formula.

Schools: Finance

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what analysis his Department undertook before taking its decision to reduce the number of schools funding indicators from 37 to 11;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received from local authorities on the changes to the schools funding consultation on School Funding Reform: Rationale and Principles;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effect on flexibility for local authorities arising from the reduction in the number of schools funding indicators from 37 to 11.

David Laws: The Department published a summary of responses to 'School Funding Reform: Rationale and Principles' on 19 July 2011. A copy of this document can be found on the Department's website.
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/a00215225/school-funding-reform
	The Department published two further consultations following this: 'School Funding Reform: Proposals for a Fairer System' (published on 19 July 2011); and ‘School Funding Reform: Next Steps towards a Fairer System' (published on 26 March 2012). The March document set out the Department's intention to reduce the number of factors that local authorities can use in configuring their school funding formulae. Prior to the publication of the March document, the Department considered which of the 37 existing factors were required in order to deliver a pupil-led funding system. In order to assess the impact of removing some of those factors, the Department analysed the annual data returns which set out local authority expenditure on education and consulted with its stakeholder groups. An Equalities Impact Assessment was published alongside the March document and can also be found on our website.
	Following publication of the March document, the Department considered representations from local authorities, maintained schools and Academies before publishing final decisions on 28 June 2012 in the document ‘School Funding Reform: Arrangements for 2013-14'.
	The Department will be carrying out a careful review, in early 2013, of the 2013-14 school funding arrangements. We will work with schools and local authorities to explore their effect and to consider whether further changes need to be made in April 2014, in order to move us closer towards a national funding formula.
	The impact of these changes to schools will be limited due to the protections we have put in place. The Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) means that, in most cases, schools will not lose more than 1.5% of their budgets, per pupil, in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
	Although we cannot give an exact figure for the MFG in future years, until after the next spending review, we can confirm that an MFG will continue to operate, in order to offer protection against unmanageable falls in school budgets. This will help us to make steady progress towards the goal of a consistent national formula.

Teachers

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the employment rate of newly qualified teachers in the (a) state and (b) independent sector by training institution.
	(2)  if he will provide information on the employment rate of newly qualified teachers in state education in the (a) primary and (b) secondary sector in each of their first five years post-qualification, by institution providing teacher training in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Laws: Three tables have been placed in the Library detailing;
	(1) the employment rate in the (a) state and (b) independent sector of final year initial teacher training trainees who achieved Qualified Teacher Status six months after course completion by training institution,
	(2a) the employment status of Newly Qualified Teachers in the five years after completing primary initial teacher training by institution providing teacher training, and
	(2b) the employment status of Newly Qualified Teachers in the five years after completing secondary initial teacher training by institution providing teacher training.
	The information in (1) is provided for initial teacher training trainees who achieved Qualified Teacher Status in the 2010/11 academic year and represents the latest available data. Similar data are also available for initial teacher training trainees who achieved Qualified Teacher Status in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 academic years. Information for academic years prior to these back to 1998/99 cover mainstream routes of initial teacher training only.
	The information in (2a) and (2b) is provided for Newly Qualified Teachers who completed their training in 2005/06, representing the most recent cohort for whom five years of data are available. Similar data are available for Newly Qualified Teachers who completed their training in 2004/05 and for fewer years for Newly Qualified Teachers who completed training in 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10. Information on the employment rates into state-funded schools is not available for this group, so the employment rates into all types of schools have been provided instead.

Vocational Education

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department funds any non-governmental organisations that promote employment training in primary or secondary schools in England; to which organisations any such funding was provided; and what the value of any such funding was.

David Laws: The Department for Education does not directly fund any non-governmental organisations that promote employment training in primary or secondary schools. We do co-sponsor the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) alongside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). UKCES fund initiatives that focus on tackling youth unemployment, addressing the skills gap and promoting economic growth.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Dementia

Paul Burstow: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church Commissioners plan to take to support the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge and the work of each of the challenge groups; what resources he has committed; what timescale he has set for this work; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Baldry: The Church of England is well placed to help the Prime Minister deliver his Dementia Challenge Initiative and the Bishop of Carlisle is a member of the Dementia Challenge team.
	The Church of England has 20,000 licensed parish ministers, 1,600 chaplains and 7,000 retired clergy with permission to officiate who undertake work on a daily basis with vulnerable communities and have extensive pastoral and community expertise. These clergy, chaplains and ministers will be important figures in promoting dementia-friendly communities.
	The Church of England is also working to support parish nursing ministries. This is a fairly new resource which is growing across the UK. Parish nursing ministries work with local registered nurses who have some community experience and local churches to help support and develop whole person health ministry to a community.

TRANSPORT

Shropshire to London Link

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold discussions with west coast main line bidders on introducing a direct link from Shropshire to London.

Simon Burns: In general, Ministers do not discuss these issues with bidders during live rail franchising competitions.
	When we end the suspension of the rail franchising programme and re-launch a new Intercity West Coast franchise competition, hon. Members and their constituents will be able to approach bidders directly to discuss the potential for introducing direct passenger train services from Shropshire to London.

High Speed 2: Midlands

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest assessment is of the potential benefits of High Speed 2 to industry and businesses in the midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McLoughlin: Our most recent analysis points to business benefits of up to £50 billion for our economy. Businesses around the West Midlands will find themselves right at the heart of the new network—with the investment and jobs that it will bring.

Airports: South East

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Heseltine Review: a new partnership, if he will accept recommendation 60 on airport capacity in the South East.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), is committed to maintaining the current published timetable for the Airports Commission.
	If the commission is to succeed, it must put in place a robust evidence base for any recommendations. The timetable has been designed so as to allow the commissioners sufficient time to consider all the credible options on an equal basis, including those which have not yet been subjected to substantial development or evaluation.

Dover Port

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he or officials from his Department have had with (a) UK-based and (b) non-UK based companies on the sale of the Port of Dover.

Stephen Hammond: The Department has had no discussions with any companies, in connection with any bids which they might wish to make for the Port of Dover, should it be for sale, which (pending the decision on Dover Harbour Board's proposed application) it is currently not. However in late 2011 and early 2012 there were facilitated discussions with Dover Harbour Board and other interested parties on the possible mechanisms of a transfer scheme that might or might not facilitate a sale at some future date, further to the Secretary of State for Transport's statement on 15 September 2011, Official Report, columns 65-66WS.

Heathrow Airport: Railways

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department plans that Heathrow would be served solely by Crossrail services if the Heathrow Express Track Access Agreement is not renewed on expiry; and what assessment his Department has made of the consequent change in journey times and projected modal shift.

Simon Burns: Heathrow Express is an Open Access operator and track access rights for that service are due to expire in 2023. Full Crossrail services are due to start serving the airport in 2019 and will provide direct access to the City, West End and Canary Wharf without interchanging at Paddington.
	The granting of track access rights, and potential renewal of these rights is a matter for Heathrow Express, Network Rail and the Office for Rail Regulation. Since these rights do not expire for 11 years we have not considered how the airport would be served if these rights were not extended and how overall accessibility to the airport would be impacted given the improvements to access that Crossrail will also deliver.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many HS2 Exceptional Hardship Scheme applications have been rejected on grounds that they failed to fulfil EHS criteria (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five.

Simon Burns: The following table sets out the number of times the Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) panel has recommended that an application has not met each of the criteria for the scheme:
	
		
			  Criteria Number of times 
			 1 Property type 22 
			 2 Location of property 107 
			 3 Effort to sell 169 
			 4 No prior knowledge 0 
			 5 Exceptional hardship 244 
		
	
	It should be noted that an unsuccessful application may fail to meet more than one criterion, so the sum of the number of times criteria have not been met is greater than the number of unsuccessful applications to the EHS.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to mitigate the environmental effect of High Speed 2; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: We are committed to reducing environmental impacts as far as practicable and as part of this HS2 Ltd is undertaking an environmental impact assessment of the route.
	We also meet regularly with community forums and environmental groups such as the National Trust to identify opportunities for environmental mitigation and enhancements, such as the creation of new wildlife habitats.
	We will consult on a draft Environmental Statement for HS2 in spring 2013.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 September 2012, Official Report, column 370W, on the High Speed 2 railway line, what the average landscape value per hectare is before mitigation is taken into account for each section along the current High Speed Rail 2 preferred line of route; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Before mitigation measures such as tunnels are taken into account the average landscape value per hectare in the HS2 Economic case on each section of the current HS2 preferred line of route between London and Birmingham is as follows:
	
		
			 Section of route Value per hectare, present value (£2001) 
			 Euston to Old Oak Common 199,014 
			 Old Oak Common to River Pinn 1,639,272 
			 River Pinn to M25 221,089 
			 M25 to Amersham 292,963 
		
	
	
		
			 Amersham to Chilterns Northern Edge 247,484 
			 Chilterns Northern Edge to A421 near Finmere 96,231 
			 A421 near Finmere to Long Itchington Tunnel 128,753 
			 Long Itchington Tunnel to Burton Green 237,871 
			 Burton Green to Balsall Common crossing WCML 99,967 
			 Balsall Common crossing WCML to Crossing M42 170,965 
			 Crossing M42 near M6 toll to Lichfield 186,155 
			 Lichfield to WCML 129,619 
			 Crossing M42 near M6 Toll to Birmingham 60,042 
		
	
	Valuation of different land types is based on the values in the Department for Communities and Local Government document ‘Valuing the external benefits of undeveloped land’ and is not unique to HS2.

Highways Agency: Planning Permission

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to improve the efficiency of the Highways Agency in respect of its function as a statutory consultee on planning applications.

Stephen Hammond: On 22 November, the Highways Agency published an improvement plan which sets out a series of actions to improve the efficiency of its planning function, and to provide greater transparency in the monitoring and reporting of its performance in this area of activity.
	A copy of the improvement plan may be found at:
	http://www.highways.gov.uk/our-road-network/planning/improvement-plan/
	Reports on progress will be provided twice-yearly, and new actions will be added when these are identified based on feedback from stakeholders.

Railways: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff in his Department were working on rail franchising in (a) June 2010, (b) January 2011, (c) August 2012 and (d) November 2012.

Simon Burns: The rail franchising process involves input from many staff at various parts of the process, many of whom contribute their expertise alongside their other tasks. This includes both internal and external specialists and advisers, as well as senior staff, whose involvement in franchising is occasional. The Department does not, therefore, hold the information in the format requested.
	The structure of rail franchising processes within the Department and the roles and responsibilities of those involved, are being examined as part of the two independent reviews that are currently ongoing. Their reports will be available in due course.

Rescue Services: Snow and Ice

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps (a) he and (b) his officials have made to improve the Coastguard Rescue Service's operational resilience in the event of adverse winter weather.

Stephen Hammond: The Coastguard Rescue Service (CRS) is routinely operationally resilient to deal with adverse winter weather. No particular changes have been made this year as the level of equipment, training and operational instructions for the CRS has proved fully capable to date, and dynamic risk assessment is standard practice.
	Coastguard Rescue Teams and their vehicles are equipped, as standard, to deal with adverse weather events. This is demonstrated by their incident response in previous years.

Rescue Services: Snow and Ice

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effect of adverse winter weather on the work of the coastguard stations at (a) Brixham, (b) Clyde, (c) Forth, (d) Great Yarmouth, (e) Liverpool, (f) Portland, (g) Swansea and (h) Walton-on-the-Naze.

Stephen Hammond: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Business Continuity Plans (BCP) are function based and not location-based, so no specific assessment has been made of the locations listed.
	The approach to resilience is common to all Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres, and the associated 164 Remote Radio Sites (RRS) situated throughout the UK. The implementation of a plan will be subject to further risk assessment that takes into account the reason why the BCP has been invoked and the prevailing weather.

Rescue Services: Snow and Ice

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many maritime incidents that were the result of adverse winter weather required assistance from the coastguard station at (a) Brixham, (b) Clyde, (c) Forth, (d) Great Yarmouth, (e) Liverpool, (f) Portland, (g) Swansea and (h) Walton-on-the-Naze in each year since 2008.

Stephen Hammond: This information is not available as Her Majesty's Coastguard does not record whether maritime incidents are as a result of adverse weather.

Roads: Animals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of installing a wildlife crossing.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not collect information on the provision of wildlife crossing for the local authority road network. Illustrative costs for the Strategic Road Network (SRN) have been included in the following table. Any supplementary information to that contained within the table is embedded within non-specific budget costs and therefore could be calculated only at disproportionate costs.
	
		
			 Table of illustrative costs of wildlife crossings constructed on the SRN between 2008 to 2010 
			 Wildlife crossings constructed by the Highways Agency 2008 to 2010 
			 Project name Types of features Capital costs (approximate) (£) 
			 Major projects   
			 M6 Carlisle to Guardsmill Extension 8 wildlife crossings 275,000 
			 A590 High and Low Newton Bypass wildlife crossing 85,000 
			 A419 Blunsdon Bypass 3 wildlife crossings 16,000 
			 A38 Dobwalls Bypass 3 wildlife crossings 300,000 
			 A69 Haydon Bridge Bypass wildlife crossing 60,000 
			 A3 Hindhead Improvement 7 wildlife crossings 62,000 
			 A595 Parton—Lillyhall Improvement 3 wildlife crossings 50,000 
			 A14 Haughley New St—Stowmarket Improvement 2 wildlife crossings (1)5,000 
			 M40 Junction 15 (Longbridge Roundabout) 4 wildlife crossings 20,000 
			 A421 Bedford to M1 Junction 13 2 wildlife crossings 41,000 
			 A1 Dishforth to Leeming Improvement (A1 Dishforth to Barton) 4 wildlife crossings 26,000 
			 A46 Newark—Widmerpool Improvement 15 wildlife crossings 95,000 
			    
			 Area teams—network delivery and development   
			 Area 3 A31 Kingstream wildlife crossing 55,000 
			 Area 3 St Leornards wildlife crossing 35,000 
			 Area 3 A3 Morley wildlife crossing 10,000 
			 Area 3 Welwyn Garden City wildlife crossing 35,000 
			 Area 5 M25 wildlife crossing 34,000 
			 Area 6 Belstead Brook wildlife crossing 65,000 
			 Area 8 A45 Barton Brook wildlife crossing 80,000 
			 Area 10 M6 jcn 29 Tasker Wood wildlife crossing 39,000 
			 Area 13 09/10 3 wildlife crossings 271,000 
			 Area 13 08/09 wildlife crossing 188,000 
			 Area 14 A1 Sandy's Letch—2 crossings 2 wildlife crossings 222,000 
			 Area 14 A1 Warren Burn wildlife crossing 48,000 
			 Area 14 A1 River Aln wildlife crossing 71,000 
			 Area 14 Cawledge Burn wildlife crossing 174,000 
			 Area 14 Newlands Burn wildlife crossing 118,000 
			 Total  2,480,000 
			 (1) In the period

Roads: Animals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries have occurred as a result of road traffic accidents involving animals in the last year.

Stephen Hammond: In Great Britain in 2011 there were eight fatalities and 139 serious injuries resulting from personal injury road accidents involving animals (other than a ridden horse) on the carriageway.

Roads: Animals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of road traffic accidents involving animals.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport publishes the overall costs of road traffic accidents in ‘Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: 2011 Annual Report’, which is available at:
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/road-accidents-and-safety-annual-report-2011/rrcgb2011-04.pdf
	The report gives the number of reported road traffic accidents in 2011 where a police officer attended the scene and recorded an animal or object on the carriageway as a contributory factor in fatal, serious or slight accidents.
	However, no estimate has been made of the costs to the public purse of road traffic accidents involving animals.

Shipping: Training

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to permit shipping companies not in the tonnage tax scheme to apply to the Maritime Training Trust for the use of Payment in Lieu of Training funds to provide training schemes for UK seafarers; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Maritime Training Trust is an independent body and decisions on how it spends PILOT funds are a matter for the Trust itself.

Shipping: Training

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers completed training courses funded from Payment in Lieu of Training made by companies in the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2001-02.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold this information. The Maritime Training Trust makes its own decisions on how to spend the funds it receives from Payments in Lieu of Training.

Tonnage Tax

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average payment in lieu of training (PILOT) made by a shipping company participating in the tonnage tax scheme was in each financial year since 2000-01.

Stephen Hammond: The information requested is not available. However, the number of PILOT payments made in respect of each tonnage tax training commitment year is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of:  
			  Company groups in tonnage tax Trainee months Months met by making PILOT payments PILOT rate per trainee month (£) 
			 2000-01 15 862 186 550 
			      
			 2001-02 42 4,689 1,142 (1)550 
			  — — — (2)562 
			      
			 2002-03 59 9,590 1,657 573 
			 2003-04 59 13,043 2,457 591 
			 2004-05 71 15,612 3,293 608 
			 2005-06 77 16,549 4,066 621 
			 2006-07 79 17,648 4,410 634 ¦ 
			 2007-08 86 18,805 3,021 652 
			 2008-09 90 ¦ 20,816 2,810 671 
			 2009-10 90 21,909 3,929 685 
			 2010-11(3) 90 22,138 4,128 743 
			 (1) October to January. (2) February to September. (3) 2010-11 is the last year for which complete information is available.

Transport: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he plans to take to ensure that areas of outstanding natural beauty are protected from major transport infrastructure projects; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Decisions on any infrastructure investment will always take account of the relevant planning policy as appropriate. They are also informed by an appraisal of the environmental effects including an assessment of any effect on an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).
	Where it is not possible to avoid such areas, measures to reduce the environmental effect will be considered carefully. For example, on High Speed 2, less than two miles of the 13 miles of the route through the Chilterns AONB would be at surface level.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) predicted revenue, (b) revenue support and (c) premium payment will be paid by Virgin Trains in respect of the 12-month contract being negotiated by his Department to run the InterCity West Coast mainline from 9 December 2012.

Simon Burns: For reasons of commercial confidentiality, I am unable to provide this information.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the letter sent by his Department's Head of Major Projects, Mr Peter Strachan, to bidders in the InterCity West Coast franchise competition was seen and approved by (a) Ministers in his Department and (b) Mr Sam Laidlaw prior to it being sent.

Simon Burns: Following the announcement of its decision to cancel the InterCity West Coast competition on 3 October, in accordance with its obligations the Department set out in writing the reasons for its decision to all bidders in the competition. Those letters were approved by officials at an appropriate level in the Department. This was a separate process from the review being carried out by Mr Sam Laidlaw and the letters were not seen by him or his Inquiry prior to their despatch.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what month he intends to publish his Department's internal Human Resources report into malpractice in awarding the West Coast Mainline rail contract; and if he will publish the report, if necessary redacting names for reasons of data protection or privacy.

Simon Burns: It would not be appropriate for the Department to publish the report of an internal fact-finding investigation into whether or not any official has a disciplinary case to answer. Accordingly, the Department does not intend to publish the internal Human Resources investigation into the role and conduct of officials in the award process for the InterCity West Coast franchise.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Laidlaw inquiry into the failure to award the West Coast train franchise will be affected by his Department's human resources inquiry; and if he will make a statement on how the reports are interlinked.

Simon Burns: No. Although the two reviews are as far as possible working from the same evidence base their roles are distinct, as shown by their separate terms of reference. The purpose of the Laidlaw inquiry is to identify the lessons to be learned for the Department and to recommend what measures the Department should implement to ensure the sound running of future rail franchise competitions. The purpose of the human resources inquiry is to gather facts into the role and conduct of the officials involved in the award process for the Intercity West Coast franchise in order to establish whether or not there is a disciplinary case to answer.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish the internal Departmental human resources report into the awarding of the West Coast Mainline rail franchise; and if he will undertake to publish the report.

Simon Burns: It would not be appropriate for the Department to publish the report of an internal fact-finding investigation into whether or not any official has a disciplinary case to answer. Accordingly, the Department does not intend to publish the internal human resources investigation into the role and conduct of officials in the award process for the InterCity West Coast franchise.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Human Trafficking Ministerial Group

Michael Connarty: To ask the Leader of the House what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on plans for scrutiny of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking's first annual report.

Andrew Lansley: I have had no direct discussions on this subject.
	However, I would like to reiterate what the Immigration Minister and chair of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), said:
	“Human trafficking is abhorrent and the UK Government is committed to combating this crime in all its forms”.

PRIME MINISTER

Food Banks

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has visited a food bank in the last six months; and whether he plans to visit a food bank in the next six months.

David Cameron: I have meetings and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals at a variety of locations around the country. My engagements are announced as and when appropriate.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Hospitals: Parking

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information her Department holds on the cost of introducing free parking at NHS trusts in Northern Ireland; and what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on what effect that introduction has had.

Michael Penning: The cost of parking at NHS trusts in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and not one for which I or the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), have ministerial responsibility.

WALES

Energy: Prices

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent assessment he had made of the effect of energy costs on business investment decisions in Wales.

David Jones: The Government has earmarked up to £250 million for this over the spending review period to reduce the impact of policy on the costs of electricity for the most electricity-intensive industries. We are currently seeking views from the business community and other interested parties on our proposed approach, including eligibility thresholds for compensation, so that the industries most at risk receive the necessary help.

Tata Steel

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions and meetings (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the management of Tata Steel.

David Jones: I spoke to Tata Steel yesterday, and my officials spoke to them last week regarding their operations in Wales.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Police and Crime Commissioners

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for election material relating to the police and crime commissioner elections had been made via (a) the telephone number 0800 1070708 and (b) www.choosemypcc.org.uk by 8 November 2012; how many responses to such requests were dispatched by that date; and how many of those responses were sent by (i) first class and (ii) second class post.

Damian Green: holding answer 13 November 2012
	As of 5 pm on 8 November 2012, there were 111,372 completed leaflet requests of which:
	(a) 86,068 were made via the PCC candidate information orderline 0800 1070708;
	(b) 25,304 were made online via
	www.choosemypcc.org.uk
	By 5 pm on 8 November, 107,559 leaflets had been dispatched in response to these requests. Of the leaflets dispatched:
	(i) 56,931 were sent by first class post;
	(ii) 50,628 were sent by second class post.
	At this point, there were 3,813 leaflets which had not been dispatched due to the fact that they were either in the system for processing, spam orders, bulk candidate requests or orders for areas where elections were not taking place.

Police and Crime Commissioners

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to update her Department's Best Value and Planning Guidance for Police Authorities and Forces 2003 to take account of the commissioning powers of police and crime commissioners.

Damian Green: This guidance will not apply to police and crime commissioners as they are not Best Value authorities.

Police: Training

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is provided to police officers on protecting children when they are online.

Jeremy Browne: There is a wide range of training available to police officers seeking to protect children online, from a number of providers, including Interpol and Europol. In particular, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) provides a number of courses that are available for police officers and for parents, carers and child care professionals, CEOP also provides general safety information for children through its “ThinkUKnow” website and training programme, which officers can provide to children.

UK Border Agency

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will direct the UK Border Agency to respond in a timely manner to the e-mail of 24 October 2012 and the follow-up call from the office of the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield in respect of the case of Mohammed Jagne.

Mark Harper: holding answer 28 November 2012
	The MP Account Manager team replied to the hon. Gentleman on 26 November 2012.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 127049 on visa extensions.

Mark Harper: holding answer 27 November 2012
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 28 November 2012, Official Report, column 337W.

DEFENCE

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the wet assembly for the Apache helicopter; what estimate he has made of the associated costs; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 28 November 2012
	The current Apache AH Mk1 aircraft are based on the US Army Apache AH64D. In common with those aircraft, the Apache AH MK1 airframes were dry-built. There is currently no engineering solution available, and therefore no cost information, for undertaking a retro-wet assembly of the in-service aircraft airframes. They have, however, been treated with a two-stage protection process to reduce the effects of corrosion and maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft in the maritime operating environment.

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the number of operational Apache helicopters; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 28 November 2012
	The Army Air Corps operates a fleet of 66 Apache helicopters, which meets the current operational requirement for Attack Helicopters.
	Apache, which is currently supporting operations in Afghanistan, has been in service with the Army since 2001 and is due to undergo a capability sustainment programme in the near future. This upgrade will ensure the capability remains in service out to 2040. The number of aircraft to be upgraded as part of this programme will be based on an assessment of the future operational requirement and will be decided at the main investment decision point, which is currently planned for 2014.
	One aircraft was recently removed from the fleet having been assessed as beyond repair as a result of damage sustained following a heavy landing on operations in 2008. The damage was not caused as a result of enemy action and neither pilot was injured in the incident.

Armed Forces: Uniforms

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department approved the Panther chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protection suit produced by Remploy.

Philip Dunne: The Panther CBRN protective suit produced by Remploy is neither in service with nor approved for use by UK armed forces.
	DSTL has undertaken some test and evaluation work on the Panther suit on a commercial basis for Remploy. However, while the result of such work is sometimes published by companies as part of their advertising literature, this does not constitute DSTL or any Government endorsement of the product nor does it imply that the equipment has been approved for use by UK armed forces.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely total cost of the upgrade to the Viking fleet.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 October 2012, Official Report, column 806W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Mr Angus Robertson).

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which universities host Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) William Penney fellowships funded by the AWE; and what the cost was of the AWE William Penney Fellowships programme in the last year for which figures are available.

Philip Dunne: The university of Bristol, Cranfield university, the university of Edinburgh, Heriot Watt university and the university of Cambridge currently have academics who have been awarded a William Penney Fellowship. In addition ‘visiting' William Penney Fellows are also hosted by the university of Cambridge.
	The Atomic Weapons Establishment budgeted £226,000 for the William Penney Fellowship for financial year 2011-2012, which is the last year for which figures are available.

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2012, Official Report, column 44W, on AWE: research, from which UK universities academics have participated in exchange visits to US establishments under the terms of the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defense Agreement in the last three years.

Philip Dunne: Academic staff from Oxford university have taken part in exchange visits to US establishments under the terms of the 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement in the last three years.

Defence Equipment

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will publish his Department's future equipment programme; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 7.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the operational use of the Voyager transport aircraft in (a) troop carrier and (b) refuelling modes.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 27 November 2012
	Voyager will be employed in both the air-to-air refuelling and passenger transport roles. It will be covered by the Ministry of Defence's overarching policy for the operational employment of all air transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft, rather than a policy specific to Voyager. The details of how and when Voyager will be used will be decided by Air Command as the operational need dictates.

Guided Weapons

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on Block 1, 2 and 3 Spear Capability; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 27 November 2012
	The Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) capability is focused on the enduring requirement to engage mobile and fixed targets in hostile and complex environments. The strategy for delivering this requirement is through a range of weapon solutions which address the diverse target set. SPEAR Capability 1, 2 and 3 are separate projects within this strategy and are at different phases of the procurement cycle:
	SPEAR Cap 1—Paveway IV (In-Service)
	SPEAR Cap 2—DMS Brimstone (Demonstration and Manufacture)
	SPEAR Cap 3—Air to Ground capability for Joint Strike Fighter (Assessment)

Indonesia

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the principal terms are of the agreement he signed with the President of Indonesia on 1 November 2012; and if he will place a copy of that agreement in the Library.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 29 November 2012
	The Defence memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the UK and Indonesia on 1 November 2012 brings together the core aspects of the UK-Indonesia Defence relationship and re-affirms our commitment to strengthening it, in line with the wider Government focus on the Asia Pacific region.
	The MOU provides, without commitment, a framework for enhancing co-operative activities in the field of defence and military relations between the participants in areas of mutual interest, based on the principles of respect, trust and mutual benefit. The MOU will not be published, since to do so would prejudice the UK's relationship with Indonesia.

Military Aircraft

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had on the ordering of suitable aircraft for the future carrier force.

Philip Dunne: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 5, to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson).

Military Alliances

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of possible multi-national collaborative military projects.

Philip Dunne: As we made clear in the strategic defence and security review (SDSR), and the National Security Through Technology White Paper, our preference when working with other countries on defence procurement is to do so on a bilateral basis. However, we will continue to work multilaterally, such as through NATO or the EU, where this offers clear benefit to the UK.

Military Alliances

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that partner companies in future collaborative defence projects are chosen by a lead prime contractor as in the Joint Strike Fighter project.

Philip Dunne: The industrial arrangements for the Joint Strike Fighter are an example of good practice in collaborative defence projects. That said, the industrial arrangements that underpin production in future projects will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the participating nations.
	The Ministry of Defence will require future collaborative defence projects to provide value for money through shared investment and economies of scale in production. And, wherever possible, our preference is to have a lead prime contractor selected on the basis of open competition throughout the supply chain.

NATO Countries

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which NATO member states have sent maritime patrol aircraft to (a) RAF Lossiemouth and (b) RAF Leuchars since March 2010; which aircraft were sent; and what the purpose was of their visit;
	(2)  on how many occasions (a) Royal Canadian Air Force P-140 Aurora aircraft and (b) United States Navy P-3 Orion aircraft have flown patrolling sorties in the North Atlantic from RAF bases in Scotland in the last two years.

Andrew Robathan: The US, Canada, France and Norway have sent maritime patrol aircraft to RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Leuchars since March 2010, either as part of joint exercises or on trials deployment. The aircraft sent include P3 Orion, CP140 Aurora, Atlantique 11 and P-8A Poseidon.
	The number of sorties is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Rescue Services

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Ministry of Defence police inquiries into the abandoned search and rescue helicopter contract have been completed; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence police investigation into the search and rescue helicopter contract is currently at an advanced stage. It would, therefore be inappropriate to disclose any information at this time.
	I will write to the right hon. Member when the investigation is completed, with the information requested.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times (a) British forces have flown US unmanned aerial vehicles and (b) US forces have flown British unmanned aerial vehicles in the latest period for which figures are available.

Andrew Robathan: The information will take time to collate. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as it is available. UK Forces have only ever flown US unmanned aerial vehicles outside Afghanistan, during Operation Ellamy in Libya.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Watchkeeper and Reaper planes to begin active service in the RAF.

Philip Dunne: The date when Watchkeeper, which is in the final stages of flight trials, will enter service with the Army has yet to be determined. The Ministry of Defence remains committed to deploying it to Afghanistan at the earliest opportunity. Reaper entered service with the RAF in 2007.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made with the Rotary Wing Unmanned Air Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 28 November 2012
	The rotary wing unmanned air system capability concept demonstrator is a two-year research project to explore how a Rotary Wing unmanned air system might be used to fill a range of maritime roles. An advertisement was placed in the Defence Contracts Bulletin in July 2012, and Expressions of Interest were received from a number of companies. The competitive process is ongoing.

Warships

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ships he estimates will be equipped with maritime imagery manipulation and storage; and at what cost.

Philip Dunne: In relation to vessels currently under construction or planned, decisions have yet to be taken as to the systems to be used for analysis of this kind of data.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Wages Board

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many responses he has received to the consultation on the closure of the Agricultural Wages Board; and when the consultation response will be available on his Department's website and in the Library;
	(2)  how many responses his Department has received to its consultation on the closure of the Agricultural Wages Board; and when the consultation response will be published.

David Heath: DEFRA is currently considering the responses to the consultation exercise on the proposed abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board, 15 Agricultural Wages Committees and 16 Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committees in England. Details of the responses to the consultation will be made available in due course.

Ash Dieback Disease

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many businesses are authorised to passport the movement of ash trees in the UK.

David Heath: The Plant Health (Forestry) (Amendment) Order 2012 prohibits all movements of ash plants, trees and seeds into and within Great Britain unless the material originates from a pest free area. Equivalent legislation exists in Northern Ireland. As yet no pest free areas have been recognised and there are no nurseries authorised to issue plant passports for the movement of ash plants, trees or seeds in the UK.

Bees: Pesticides

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable for assessing the latest studies on the effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on honey bees is; and if he will consider suspending the use of these insecticides until a review has taken place.

Richard Benyon: An assessment of studies made earlier this year on both honey bees and bumble bees was published on 18 September. It can be viewed on the DEFRA website. A study by Gill et al on bumble bees published subsequently was examined urgently by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides at their meeting on 13 November. The Government keeps the developing evidence under close and open-minded scrutiny and further research that we have commissioned on the crucial issue of field effects for bumble bees will be completed soon. We have always made it clear that we will take whatever action is appropriate based on the available evidence.

Common Agricultural Policy

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his priorities are for reform of the common agricultural policy.

David Heath: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 302W.

Marine Conservation Zones

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account he will be taking of the Government's seven design principles in the Ecological Network guidance in his Department's recommendations in the forthcoming consultation on marine conservation zone network designations.

Richard Benyon: In their guidance provided to the Regional Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) Projects, the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs) interpreted the seven design principles to provide operational guidance to the projects to identify possible locations for MCZs. DEFRA is considering these site recommendations from the Regional MCZ Projects, along with their impact assessment and advice from the SNCBs to identify sites suitable for designation in the first tranche, and expects to consult on these shortly.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burma

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations her Department has made to the Burmese Government on creating a road map to ending the segregation policies in Sittwe which remove the Rohingya from their livelihoods and make them dependent on humanitarian assistance.

Alan Duncan: UK Ministers and officials in the DFID office and British embassy in Rangoon continue to lobby the Government of Burma for a long-term solution to the plight of the Rohingya in Rakhine, including their right to citizenship. Ministers recently raised this directly with Minister Soe Thane when he visited the UK on 7 November.

Burma

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has had on ensuring effective co-ordination between the different humanitarian aid agencies providing assistance in the Rakhine district.

Alan Duncan: DFID has provided £2 million in humanitarian relief for the victims of violence in Rakhine state. DFID support is being provided by a consortium of international non-governmental organisations.
	In this work, and throughout DFID's funding in Burma, DFID encourages the United Nations (UN) to strengthen its co-ordination of assistance; and works to ensure the Burmese Government co-ordinate their response with the UN and others. DFID also takes steps to allow full, co-ordinated, humanitarian access to the areas affected by conflict such as Rakhine state.

Burma

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department plans to provide any funding for technical assistance with reconciliation inside the Rakhine state.

Alan Duncan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 82W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Offord).

Burma

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether she has considered directing humanitarian funding towards the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: DFID does not currently provide bilateral funding directly to assist the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, but if additional funding is requested by operational agencies we will consider it. DFID does provide core contributions to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which manages the official camps, and other organisations that provide support including the European Commission. We have raised the plight of the Rohinygas and their status with the Government of Bangladesh, both bilaterally and in concert with EU partners.

Developing Countries: Children

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to address the nutritional support needs of children under five years old living in flood-affected areas overseas.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has supported the nutrition needs of young children affected by flooding in Pakistan in 2010-12. In 2010, we reached 376,000 malnourished children and 123,000 pregnant women with vital nutrition supplies; in 2011 we funded livelihood support for 85,000 families; and in 2012 we provided food ration packs for 156,000 families. DFID is also funding nutrition programmes in other countries affected by floods, including Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Somalia. DFID also funds research to develop flood-tolerant rice, which will help to protect the nutrition of communities in Asia.

Developing Countries: Education

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to support education in (a) refugee camps in Dadaab and (b) other emergency situations.

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £36 million over three years to support refugee protection and assistance efforts in Kenya. This includes £13.5 million unearmarked funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which can be utilised for a range of services—including education in Dadaab.
	DFID provides indirect support to education activities in emergencies through its core funding to the United Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNHCR, both of whom have a mandate for education, and through humanitarian pooled funds. In 2012, DFID provided £44 million as core funding to UNICEF and £19 million to UNHCR. In 2012, DFID also provided £60 million to the Central Emergency Response Fund, which allocated £3.6 million to education. This year, DFID has also provided £84.6 million to humanitarian funds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan. £12.8 million of these funds has been allocated to education activities, including provision of temporary classrooms, catch-up classes, equipment, sanitary facilities and distribution of study kits for students and training of teachers and parents.

Developing Countries: Sanitation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to promote safe sanitation and toilet facilities for women as part of its role as the UK's international violence against women champion.

Lynne Featherstone: As part of its plans for a significant scale-up of work on sanitation, water and hygiene, the Department for International Development (DFID) is working to ensure that women and girls continue to be prioritised in the design and delivery of water and sanitation programmes.
	One example of this in action is where DFID projects are using women's membership of local water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) committees to ensure that their needs for safe facilities are met and their voices in local decision-making strengthened.

Pakistan

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has to provide bilateral funding for the humanitarian response to the floods in Pakistan.

Justine Greening: In anticipation of floods this year, we provided £1 million to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to pre-position emergency shelter materials for 146,000 people. At the same time we provided £9 million to assist communities to recover from the 2011 floods.
	As the scale of this year’s floods has become clear we have provided a further £10.5 million emergency assistance to provide food packs for 1 million people, shelter and winter kits for 258,000 people and water, basic sanitation and hygiene support for 686,000 people.
	DFID will consider further assistance to meet priority recovery needs in due course.

CABINET OFFICE

Business: Sunderland

Julie Elliott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many businesses in Sunderland closed in each of the last three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question.
	Annual statistics on the number of businesses that have closed (we refer to these as enterprise deaths) are available in the ONS release on Business Demography at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/business-demography/index.html
	The following table contains the latest year for which these data are available on the number of enterprise deaths in Sunderland for the years 2008-10.
	
		
			 Count of enterprise deaths in Sunderland, 2008-10 
			  Count 
			 2008 645 
			 2009 740 
			 2010 785 
			 Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.

Charities: Religion

Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department has considered bringing forward legislative proposals on the definition of public benefit to ensure that previously accepted religious charities cannot have their charitable status removed.

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will review the legislation relating to religious organisations and public benefit.

Nick Hurd: I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 89W.

Children: Poverty

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many children were born into workless households in each financial year since 1997-98.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many children were born into workless households in each financial year since 1997-98 (130573).
	The number of children born into workless households in each financial year is not available. However; the number of children under 1 living in workless households, which would give an indication of those born throughout the year, is available for April to June in each of the years 1997-2012. These estimates can be found in the table. It has been estimated, for example, that in April to June 2012 there were 107,000 children aged under 1 living in a workless household.
	Note that a household may not have been workless at the time the child was born but were workless at the time of their interview for the survey. The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and are not seasonally adjusted. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			 Children born into workless households(1), April to June, 1997 to 2012 
			  Number of children (thousand) 
			 1997 129 
			 1998 114 
			 1999 117 
			 2000 108 
			 2001 105 
			 2002 95 
			 2003 100 
			 2004 102 
			 2005 96 
			 2006 115 
			 2007 105 
		
	
	
		
			 2008 123 
			 2009 111 
			 2010 126 
			 2011 112 
			 2012 107 
			 (1) A workless household is a household that includes at least one person aged 16 to 64 where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment. Source: Labour Force Survey household datasets

Dementia

Paul Burstow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to support the Prime Minister's dementia challenge and the work of each of the challenge groups; what resources he has committed and what timescales he has set for this work; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office is supporting the Prime Minister’s dementia challenge through its support for the One Million Dementia Friends initiative. The Cabinet Office is providing £1,191,049 of funding to the Alzheimer’s Society to recruit 1 million dementia friends by 2015 who will provide support and understanding to dementia sufferers within their communities.

Disability

Robin Walker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many disabled people in (a) Worcester constituency, (b) Worcestershire and (c) the West Midlands were in employment in (i) May 2010 and (ii) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	Table 1 shows the number of people in the APS identifying themselves as disabled who were in employment, resident in (a) Worcester constituency, (b) Worcestershire and (c) the West Midlands, at the time of interview; during the 12 month periods ending June 2012, the most recent period for which figures are available, and June 2010. As these datasets are only produced every three months a figure for May 2010 is not available.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the table.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of disabled(1) people in employment, resident in (a) Worcester constituency, (b) Worcestershire and (c) the West Midlands, 12 months ending June 2010 and June 2012 
			 Thousand 
			  June 2010 June 2012(2) 
			 West Midlands 307 *324 
			 Worcestershire 32 **39 
		
	
	
		
			 Worcester 5 ***7 
			 (1) Disabled has been defined as disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act, or people who have identified themselves as having a work limiting disability or both. (2) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5%. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key: * 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Population Survey

Drugs: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each of the last three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each of the last three years. (130697)
	The table below provides the number of deaths related to drug poisoning in (a) Suffolk county, (b) Bedford unitary authority and Central Bedfordshire unitary authority, (c) Cambridgeshire county, (d) Essex county, (e) Hertford county and (f) Norfolk county in each year from 2009 to 2011 (the latest available year).
	The county of Bedfordshire was abolished in April 2009 and split into two new unitary authorities, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire. Figures for these two unitary authorities are therefore presented.
	The number of deaths related to drug poisoning registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause and the specific substance involved are published annually on the National Statistics website. The latest Statistical Bulletin on deaths from drug-related poisoning was published in August 2012 at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health3/deaths-related-to-drug-poisoning/index.html
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths related to drug poisoning by selected counties and unitary authorities in England, 2009-11(1,2,3,4) 
			 Deaths (Persons) 
			 Area 2009 2010 2011 
			 Suffolk 33 32 31 
			 Bedford Unitary Authority 6 12 5 
			 Central Bedfordshire Unitary Authority 7 5 10 
			 Cambridgeshire 21 22 24 
			 Essex 46 50 76 
			 Hertfordshire 36 27 35 
		
	
	
		
			 Norfolk 62 43 44 
			 (1) Based on boundaries as of August 2012. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (3) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. (4) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). The ICD-10 codes for drug poisoning are shown in Box 1 below. Source: Office for National Statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			 Box 1: ICD-10 codes for deaths related to drug poisoning 
			 Description ICD 10 Codes 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) F11-F16, F18-F19 
			 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X40-X44 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X60-X64 
			 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X85 
			 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent Y10-Y14

Drugs: North East

Julie Elliott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) the north-east, (b) Sunderland local authority and (c) Sunderland Central constituency in each of the last three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) the North East, (b) Sunderland local authority, and (c) Sunderland Central Constituency in each of the last three years. (130998)
	The table provides the number of deaths related to drug poisoning in (a) the North East region, (b) Sunderland local authority, and (c) Sunderland Central parliamentary constituency in each year from 2009 to 2011 (the latest available year).
	The number of deaths related to drug poisoning registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause and the specific substance involved are published annually on the National Statistics website. The latest Statistical Bulletin on deaths from drug-related poisoning was published in August 2012 at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health3/deaths-related-to-drug-poisoning/index.html
	
		
			 Number of death related to drug poisoning by selected areas in England; 2009-11(1,2,3,4) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			 Area 2009 2010 2011 
			 North East region 185 171 163 
			 Sunderland local authority 21 20 15 
			 Sunderland Central parliamentary constituency 10 7 6 
			 (1) Based on boundaries as of August 2012. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (3) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. (4) Cause of death for was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). The 1CD-10 codes for drug poisoning are shown in the following table. Source: Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	
		
			 ICD-10 codes for deaths related to drug poisoning 
			 Description ICD 10 codes 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) F11-F16 
			  F18-F19 
			 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X40-X44 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X60-X64 
			 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X85 
			 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent Y10-Y14

Government Departments: Disclosure of Information

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many assurance reports (a) his Department and (b) other Government Departments have released publicly, where release has taken place within two years of the completion of the assurance review, since 2005.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office responds to requests for assurance reviews in accordance with FOI legislation. Each request is considered on a case by case basis.
	Information on release of assurance reports by other Departments is not held by the Cabinet Office.

Heart Diseases: Newham

Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) men and (b) women over the age of 65 died of cardiovascular disease in Newham in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) men and (b) women over the age of 65 died of cardiovascular disease in Newham in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010. (130755)
	The table provides the number of deaths where cardiovascular disease was the underlying cause for men and women over the age of 65 years, in the London Borough of Newham in each year from 2007 to 2010.
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause, marital status and place of death are published annually and are available here:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27475
	
		
			 Number of deaths where cardiovascular disease was the underlying cause in men and women aged over 65 years in Newham, 2007-10(1,2,3,4) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			 Sex 2007 2008 2009 
			 Males 78 99 80 
			 Females 94 67 58 
			 (1) Cardiovascular disease was defined using the International Classification of-Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes 120-125. (2) Based on boundaries as of August 2012. (3 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. Source: Office for National Statistics

Military Medals Review

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office by what date he expects the second stage of the Military Medal Review, led by Sir John Holmes, to report.

Nick Hurd: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 95W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney) and my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes).

Public Sector: Procurement

David Hanson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2012, Official Report, column 324W, on public sector: procurement, if he will take steps to ensure that construction subcontractors reporting late receipt of payments are not subsequently blacklisted in the industry as whistleblowers; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: Construction subcontractors are able to report instances of poor payment practice pertaining to work on a public contract through the Mystery Shopper scheme. The scheme caters for those subcontractors that prefer to provide information on an anonymous basis.

Unemployment

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many unemployed people there were in each ward of each local authority area on the latest date for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many unemployed people there were in each ward of each local authority area on the latest date for which figures are available. (130832)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Unfortunately the sample size does not support analyses of unemployment for the requested geography.
	As an alternative, we have provided the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) by ward, in October 2012. As the requested data are quite extensive, a copy of the table has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Wards have been ordered by local authority within region.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count, are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes there are in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England.

Mark Prisk: Figures for local authority and private registered provider (housing association) stock at local authority district level can be found in Live Table 100 on the Department for Communities and Local Government website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
	The figures include dwellings for social rent, affordable rent, intermediate rent but may exclude those in ‘shared ownership'.
	Information is collected at local authority level and therefore figures at constituency level are not available.

Dementia

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to support the Prime Minister's dementia challenge and the work of each of the challenge groups; what resources he has committed and what timescales he has set for this work; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: My Department is supporting the Prime Minister's dementia challenge and the work of the Health and Social Care champions group by facilitating a Housing and Dementia Working Group. The working group brings together key sector organisations and has four sub-groups looking at: information and advice, the role of good housing and related services in early intervention, design of dementia-friendly housing and skills for the work force.
	The working group will be holding a seminar with key building professionals on dementia-friendly design in January 2013. The group will also be producing a report in February 2013 on the role of housing and early intervention in the dementia care pathway. The group is working with Skills for Care and SCIE to make better use of existing dementia training resources available for the housing sector by February 2013. The National Housing Federation is also hosting two events in February 2013 to promote the work of the group and raise the profile of dementia among housing providers.

Housing: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new houses his Department intends to be built in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) the East of England in the next three years.

Mark Prisk: We have not set any top-down Whitehall targets for the number of houses to be built.
	Notwithstanding, as part of departmental programmes delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency, expected delivery of new homes in (a) the St Edmundsbury local authority area, (b) Suffolk and (c) the East and South East of England in the next three years is as follows:
	
		
			  2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Total 
			 (a) St Edmundsbury area 46 49 50 145 
			 (b) Suffolk 796 600 522 (1)1,999 
			 (c) East and South East 8,975 8,515 11,661 (1)29,895 
			 (1 )The total includes some delivery which has not been attributed by year yet. Source: Homes and Communities Agency.

Land: Public Sector

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses have been (a) started and (b) completed on sites which had previously been identified by Government Departments in their land disposal plans.

Mark Prisk: To free up more surplus land for new housing, the Government are committed to releasing formerly used land, owned by central Government, capable of delivering up to 100,000 homes by April 2015. We have identified the surplus land for 100,000 homes and, to date, we have already sold land to support the building of an estimated 33,000 new homes, at the best price for the taxpayer.
	My Department does not collate information centrally on housing starts and completions on these individual sites; where sites are in private ownership, there is no requirement for the new owners to report starts or completions to central Government, and we do not intend to impose administrative reporting burdens which could hinder sale of the sites.
	The Government will provide an update on progress of the programme at the autumn statement.

Local Government Finance

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many councils have decided to conduct new consultations due to the introduction of transitional grant for localised council tax benefit.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her on 21 November 2012, Official Report, column 485W. This is a matter for individual local authorities.

Religious Hatred

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department has taken to protect Muslim communities from harassment, intimidation and violence by extremist organisations.

Don Foster: The Government will not tolerate those who spread hate against or target Muslim communities in order to divide society and deliberately raise community tensions.
	Local authorities and local police forces are best placed to work with their communities to protect them from extremists, and we trust them to do so. The Department for Communities and Local Government has provided £200,000 to support a special interest group of local areas, led by Blackburn with Darwen borough council and Luton borough council. This group will support a range of activities such as peer networks, seminars and conferences designed to enable local partners to share information on how best to handle far right activity and develop solutions for the problems brought by the far right. The Government has also provided £183,000 to Tell Mama, a project which monitors and encourages the Muslim community to report anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents and has made a further £214,000 available subject to the project becoming sustainable.

Religious Hatred

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the extent of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in the UK.

Don Foster: Hate crime, including that targeting a person's religion, is an issue the Government take very seriously. We believe that understanding the extent of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred in the UK helps us tackle hate crime in all its forms. Therefore we are working with the Association of Chief Police Officers and other partners to encourage the reporting of all hate crime and improve the response of the police and other criminal justice agencies to ensure better protection for victims. The Association of Chief Police Officers records anti-Semitic crime at the national level which is broken down by police force area. The latest figures were published in September 2011 and full details can be found at:
	http://report-it.org.uk/hate_crime_data1
	We are working alongside the Community Security Trust and funding Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks, both of whom record anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents. And we have established cross-Government working groups on both anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's policy is on the requirement on each local authority to provide an arts provision.

Edward Vaizey: This Government want to empower local communities and local authorities to make the decisions that are most appropriate for their area, rather than imposing a one size fits all model of cultural provision. It is our view that regulation is not the best way to deliver cultural services at a local level, and imposing a statutory duty would also add to burdens placed upon local government at a time when deregulation is a priority. As the development agency for the arts in England, Arts Council England will continue to work closely with local authorities, championing the value of investment in the arts.
	In September 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government issued new Best Value guidance: a “fair deal” which cuts back unnecessary red tape on local authorities, while introducing new requirements for councils to consult with local voluntary organisations on changes to funding and service.

Arts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has for support to creative businesses of a size below small or sub-scale enterprises.

Edward Vaizey: Government support for the creative industries is primarily channelled through the Creative Industries Council, which was established as a joint forum between the creative industries and Government to address areas where there are barriers facing the sector and to help the growth of creative businesses of all sizes. Jointly chaired by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Women and Equalities, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Nicola Mendelsohn, Chair of the IPA, the council focuses on finding practical solutions to issues across the sector, including skills and access to finance. Sub-groups of the council produced reports into both of these areas this year, which were welcomed by the council, and work is continuing to be taken forward.
	In addition, in Budget 2012, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the introduction of three new tax reliefs for high end TV, video games and animation, building on the success of the film tax relief, which should benefit the whole sector.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when her Department expects to receive state aid approval for the roll out of next generation broadband.

Edward Vaizey: The European Commission confirmed approval of the UK umbrella support scheme for investments in next generation access broadband networks on 20 November 2012. The UK National Competence Centre will, with immediate effect, be able to assist local authorities in designing and implementing successful broadband support measures in line with EU competition rules.

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she last met ministerial colleagues at (a) the Department for Communities and Local Government and (b) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss broadband.

Edward Vaizey: Ministers within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet colleagues at both the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss a range of matters, including broadband.

Charitable Donations

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the level of philanthropic giving in (a) London and (b) outside London.

Edward Vaizey: In 2010-11, philanthropic giving to the cultural sector totalled close to £500 million in London and almost £125 million in the non-London English regions—a total of £612 million, over £20 million more than was given in 2009-10. Although London is always likely to attract a greater proportion of philanthropic giving, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) believes there is scope to boost philanthropy and strengthen the sector's ability to fundraise across the whole country.
	Our measures to boost philanthropy include the Catalyst Fund, which will channel £100 million into cultural institutions, leveraging at least as much again from private donors. DCMS is working closely with the cultural sector, donors and corporate supporters to explore how else philanthropic giving can be encouraged across the country.

Dementia

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to support the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge and the work of each of the challenge groups; what resources she has committed; what timescale she has set for this work; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The Department will support fully the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge, consulting our various sectors and arm's length bodies on what they are already doing and what additional initiatives might be needed. That process of consultation will enable us to firm up details of time scales and resources.

Film: Advertising

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the contribution of brand promotion in films made in the UK to the economy.

Edward Vaizey: The Department does not hold such information. However, the film industry's own estimates, outlined in the recent report The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry, published by Oxford Economics in September 2012 and supported by the British Film Institute, estimated that a growing market in brand promotion in UK film is worth around £56 million in GDP a year for exporters advertising their products to a wider audience.

Gambling

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of how many people within Havering have a gambling problem; and what steps her Department is taking to help them;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to help people with gambling addictions.

Hugh Robertson: The British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010, published by the Gambling Commission at the following link:
	www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk
	showed that 0.7% or 0.9% of the adult population, depending on the measure used, are likely to be problem gamblers. Data on problem gambling are not collected by local authority area.
	British based gambling operators must comply with licence conditions requiring them to signpost assistance to gamblers in gambling premises, on websites and in advertising. The Government believe the industry should play a leading role in helping to tackle problem gambling. The Responsible Gambling Trust is an independent national charity that raises voluntary contributions from the industry to fund problem gambling research, education and treatment. This includes a national problem gambling helpline, the Gamble Aware website, and it has recently signed a new three-year agreement with Gamcare to expand the provision of treatment services for gamblers and others adversely affected by gambling.

Pay

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 322W, on pay, whether the number given for employees of her Department earning in excess of £80,000 per year is inclusive or exclusive of the number earning in excess of £100,000 per year.

Hugh Robertson: The number provided in the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 322W, was exclusive of the number earning in excess of £100,000 per year.

Public Lending Right

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date she plans to publish the Government's response to the consultation on the Public Lending Right.

Edward Vaizey: The Government's response to the consultation on Public Lending Right will be published in the coming weeks, alongside the final stage impact assessment. The exact date of publication is to be confirmed; all respondents to the consultation will be notified when the response is published.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Females: Business

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she is considering to further enable women to (a) develop their entrepreneurial ideas and (b) establish start-up businesses.

Jo Swinson: I am replying on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) already contribute about £50 billion annually to the UK economy. We are building on this by promoting an entrepreneurial culture in schools and by identifying more female role models and mentors—to ensure that girls and women see enterprise from their earliest years as an opportunity equally open to them. We have introduced a range of measures to support start-ups and existing businesses, not aimed specifically at women, but open to all entrepreneurs, male and female. These include measures to help businesses to access support and advice through
	www.gov.uk
	the new home for Government services and information online, and a range of measures to help businesses access the finance they need. Ministers regularly engage with female entrepreneurs through the Secretary of State's Entrepreneurs' Forum to discuss a range of issues and any particular concerns.
	We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. That is why, in January, the Prime Minister launched “Business in You”, a major campaign to inspire people to realise their business ambitions and to highlight the range of support available for start-ups and growing businesses. “Business in You” makes it a point to ensure that successful women business owners are represented and profiled through the campaign to provide inspiration for female entrepreneurs. In December, in conjunction with the Government Equalities Office, the campaign will deliver communications specifically targeted at women to ensure that female entrepreneurs and business owners are aware of available advice and support.

JUSTICE

Prisons: Expenditure

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding from the public purse has been spent on the establishment and maintenance of private finance initiative agreements on prisons in each year since 1997.

Jeremy Wright: The total cost broken down by year since 1997 on private finance initiative projects relating to prisons can be found on the list of signed PFI deals, available on HM Treasury's website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/infrastructure_data_pfi.htm
	The list contains annual unitary charge payments, which are projections and are conditional on the performance of the private sector contractor. Unitary charge payments are not simply repayments for the capital value of the project and will frequently include inflation, provision of services, capital repayments and major refurbishment.
	All of the prison projects recorded on the list are now in operation including HMP Thameside.

Prisons: Training

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy that the post of Head of Learning and Skills in a training prison should always be a full-time post.

Jeremy Wright: Training prisons is a term that captures a number of prison establishments that vary in size, prison population and complexity. What is appropriate for one may not be for another. NOMS is restructuring all public sector prisons individually to ensure that we get the appropriate structures at all sites. These new structures will offer best value for money while continuing to deliver safe, decent and secure prisons.
	The head of Learning and Skills post is a specialist post which is a crucial part of effective delivery of the rehabilitation revolution in all establishments. They are a key part of the process to deliver education in prisons and are supported by regional leads and by heads of Reducing Re-offending locally. Every governor has assessed the requirements of each post in their new structures, and in cases where they have concluded that a role is not a full-time post they have been linked to other part-time roles. This approach has been most often taken in smaller establishments and is appropriate. Each prison structure has been approved by a deputy director of custody who has responsibility to ensure the funding from Business, Innovation and Skills is used most appropriately and effectively.

Risley Prison

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff at HM Prison Risley have worked over their contracted hours and have not received time off in lieu within five weeks in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the total number of hours owed to staff is.

Jeremy Wright: HM Prison Risley is unable to provide the data required within the timescale allowed. The information will follow in correspondence.

Risley Prison

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of a reduction in the level of overtime cover for staff absences on (a) staff morale, (b) violent incidents and (c) the level of purposeful activity provided for prisoners at HM Prison Risley.

Jeremy Wright: HM Prison Risley has sufficient payment plus (paid overtime) hours to cover any shortfall in the numbers of officers necessary for day-to-day operations. There has been no reduction in the level of overtime in the prison.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects the financing of the Green Climate Fund to be complete.

Gregory Barker: I expect that decisions on contributions to the GCF will come forward once the design of the fund is complete, assuming it demonstrates that it that will deliver substantial results and offer good value for money.
	The UK is satisfied with progress to date and is working through our board seat for a rapid completion of the design. While this work is ongoing, the UK is providing £400,000 to pay for the GCF interim secretariat, interim trustee, the board and other GCF start-up costs.

Climate Change

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he intends the Green Climate Fund to be (a) designed and (b) operational.

Gregory Barker: I would like the GCF to have completed its design and be fully operational as soon as possible.
	The UK has strongly supported development of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). We believe it needs to address challenges in the existing climate architecture.
	The UK is pleased that the GCF has now been established, the GCF Board is in place and the first two board meetings have now been held. The task is now is to progress and complete the GCF design, develop GCF policies and endorse the host country, so that the fund can be made operational and can start providing support to poor communities.
	The UK is working to achieve an effective fund which we can be sure will achieve results and value for money through our participation in the Board seat. The timing of when the GCF will have completed its design and be operational is dependent on the progress that the board make.

Green Deal Scheme

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how applications through the Green Deal Finance Company will be monitored from January 2013.

Gregory Barker: The Green Deal Finance Company is a private organisation, and as such DECC will not have a role in monitoring the relationship between Green Deal providers, who will write the plans, and the company. DECC will monitor the Green Deal closely and data on Green Deal plans will be available to DECC through various channels including the Green Deal central charge database, and the oversight and registration body.

Renewable Energy

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the annual cost to (a) the public purse, (b) all consumers and (c) domestic consumers by household, for each of the next 15 years, of the Government's proposed contracts for difference scheme; and what comparative assessment he has made of each of those costs and the cost of the renewables obligation.

John Hayes: Estimated spend on future policy for Contract for Difference payments relates to the formulation or development of Government policy. Detailed decisions on Contract for Difference payments are still being made and in order that these decisions benefit from impartial advice and proper consideration, they should be made without fear of premature disclosure.
	The cost of the renewables obligation—in terms of the public purse and the impact on consumers—is contained in the impact assessment (IA) accompanying the Government response to the RO Banding Review that was published on the DECC website in July 2012:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/ro-banding/5945-renewables-obligation-government-response-impact-a.pdf

Secondment

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many individuals employed by (a) major UK utility companies, (b) Energy UK and (c) any related energy utility organisation have been seconded to his Department since May 2010; and in which divisions or policy areas they worked.

Gregory Barker: Between May 2010 and October 2012, the following secondees have been working in DECC:
	(a) Three secondees from Major UK utility companies. Two have worked in Energy Markets and Infrastructure, one in the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment.
	(b) We do not have any secondees from Energy UK.
	(c) Eight secondees from related energy utility organisations, five in Energy Markets and Infrastructure, two in International, EU and Energy Security (one post filled by two different secondees during the time period).

Secondment

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the total number of days and hours worked has been of individuals who have been seconded to his Department from (a) major UK utility companies, (b) Energy UK and (c) any related energy utility organisation since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: Full-time hours in the Department equates to 36 hours per week, excluding lunch, in London. The secondees worked the following time scales:
	(a) Three secondees from Major UK utility companies.
	One full-time June 2012-present
	One full-time April 2010-April 2011
	One part-time (two days per week) July 2012-present.
	(b) We have no secondees from Energy UK.
	(c) Seven secondees from related energy utility organisations
	One full-time October 2011-present
	One full-time November 2012
	One full-time September 2012-present
	One full-time March 2011-June 2011
	One full-time April 2010-April 2011
	One full-time May 2010-August 2011
	One full-time August 2011-present.

Secondment

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether any individuals seconded to his Department from (a) major UK utility companies, (b) Energy UK or (c) any related energy utility organisations took part in any high level discussions with Ministers, senior officials or policy lead officials during their secondment (i) generally and (ii) in specific relation to the Energy Bill.

Gregory Barker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today to PQ 130167, which outlines all relevant secondees in DECC. All of our secondees would have had access to policy lead officials and senior officials. However, only one of the ten secondees took part in any discussions with Ministers, senior officials and policy lead officials in relation to the Energy Bill, this secondee was from a related energy utility organisation.
	One secondee from major UK utility company took part in high level discussions generally with Ministers.
	Two secondees from any related energy utility organisations have taken part in high level discussions generally with Ministers.

Secondment

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether any individuals employed by (a) major UK utility companies, (b) Energy UK or (c) any related energy utility organisation seconded to his Department have had regular contact with the private offices of Ministers of State during their secondment since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today to PQ 130167, which outlines all relevant secondees in DECC.
	One secondee from a major UK utility company had contact with private offices of Ministers of State.
	Three secondees from any related energy utility organisations have had regular contact with the private offices of Ministers of State.

Warm Front Scheme

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people have made successful applications for grants under the Warm Front scheme for (a) loft insulation, (b) draught-proofing, (c) cavity wall insulation, (d) hot water tank insulation, (e) gas, electric, liquid petroleum gas or oil heating, (f) converting solid-fuel open fire to a glass-fronted fire and (g) replacing heating systems with an oil or alternative technology system in each county in England since the introduction of the scheme.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the volume of installations completed through the Warm Front scheme for the following measures type; (a) loft insulation, (b) draught-proofing, (c) cavity wall insulation, (d) hot water tank insulation, (e) gas, electric, liquid petroleum gas or oil heating, (f) converting solid-fuel open fire to a glass-fronted fire and (g) replacing heating systems with an oil or alternative technology system in each county in England from April 2006/7 to 31 October.
	
		
			 County Sum of loft insulation Sum of draughtproofing Sum of cavity wall insulation Sum of hot water tank jacket Sum of gas, electric, LPG or oil fuel central heating Sum of conversions of solid-fuel open fires to glass-fronted fires Sum of gas, LPG, oil or solid fuel boiler replacements Total measures 
			 Bedfordshire 2,310 1,161 1,050 224 768 0 4,088 9,601 
			 Berkshire 1,612 820 895 119 589 0 1,724 5,759 
			 Buckinghamshire 2,117 1,009 983 159 442 0 2,318 7,028 
		
	
	
		
			 Cambridgeshire 2,496 1,002 959 324 847 0 2,743 8,371 
			 Cheshire 6,297 2,564 4,200 795 2,479 2 9,265 25,602 
			 City of Bristol 1,698 967 700 255 729 0 2,079 6,431 
			 Cornwall 2,223 954 968 212 4,375 0 2,798 11,530 
			 Cumbria 3,224 1,593 1,713 505 2,270 1 3,360 12,666 
			 Derbyshire 6,818 2,192 2,720 713 2,380 0 8,043 22,866 
			 Devon 5,520 2,572 3,572 573 4,981 0 6,712 23,930 
			 Dorset 2,496 1,147 1,704 278 1,560 0 3,424 10,609 
			 Durham 4,716 1,743 2,252 335 1,701 0 14,633 25,380 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,560 1,130 1,195 230 2,700 0 5,045 13,860 
			 East Sussex 3,060 2,487 2,088 352 1,815 0 3,410 13,212 
			 Essex 9,917 4,862 5,717 1,333 3,120 0 10,050 34,999 
			 Gloucestershire 3,814 1,588 2,067 412 1,483 0 3,221 12,585 
			 Greater London 15,368 11,813 3,615 1,418 4,738 0 20,817 57,769 
			 Greater Manchester 17,514 10,890 12,407 1,936 8,386 0 38,223 89,356 
			 Hampshire 4,491 2,416 3,587 351 2,682 0 5,821 19,348 
			 Herefordshire 701 496 401 87 546 0 771 3,002 
			 Hertfordshire 3,291 1,699 1,770 304 744 0 3,078 10,886 
			 Isle of Wight 752 499 645 89 674 0 705 3,364 
			 Kent 6,998 3,285 3,862 390 2,698 0 7,161 24,394 
			 Lancashire 12,421 7,531 8,054 1,773 9,292 0 20,782 59,853 
			 Leicestershire 4,413 2,113 1,528 637 1,255 0 7,401 17,347 
			 Lincolnshire 9,607 2,840 3,723 824 3,256 0 9,047 29,297 
			 Merseyside 11,826 7,873 5,443 1,739 8,456 0 21,755 57,092 
			 Norfolk 5,660 2,142 2,619 639 2,427 0 4,358 17,845 
			 North Yorkshire 7,004 3,052 3,398 838 2,751 0 8,400 25,443 
			 Northamptonshire 2,319 1,043 1,064 243 1,109 1 3,989 9,768 
			 Northumberland 1,176 660 591 122 436 1 2,731 5,717 
			 Nottinghamshire 6,792 2,092 2,681 862 1,747 0 9,323 23,497 
			 Oxfordshire 1,507 1,005 704 184 516 0 1,258 5,174 
			 Rutland 111 92 55 22 25 0 82 387 
			 Shropshire 2,206 1,049 1,156 311 745 0 2,261 7J28 
			 Somerset 4,727 1,945 2,827 540 2,246 0 3,858 16,143 
			 South Yorkshire 7,104 1,986 3,362 785 1,869 0 14,084 29,190 
			 Staffordshire 6,886 2,513 4,393 938 2,956 0 11,403 29,089 
			 Suffolk 4,325 2,232 1,764 545 1,755 0 2,760 13,381 
			 Surrey 2,037 1,288 1,314 340 629 0 1,965 7,573 
			 Tyne and Wear 4,073 1,784 2,447 231 1,435 0 14,025 23,995 
			 Warwickshire 2,329 789 901 '201 924 0 3,145 8,289 
			 West Midlands 16,753 8,825 6,639 1,495 12,008 0 31,606 77,326 
			 West Sussex 2,902 1,447 2,120 244 1,602 0 3,308 11,623 
			 West Yorkshire 11,156 5,275 6,141 900 14,510 1 21,619 59,602 
			 Wiltshire 1,956 874 1,206 138 1,025 0 2,125 7,324 
			 Worcestershire 2,710 1,444 1,394 403 1,137 0 3,107 10,195 
			 Grand total 242,993 120,783 124,594 26,351 126,818 6 363,881 1,005,426 
			 Notes: 1. Data by county are not available prior to April 2006. 2. Figures represent the volumes of installations against each measure set out above, more than one measure may have been installed per household.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people previously in receipt of invalidity benefit and yet to be assessed for employment and support allowance will therefore not be eligible to receive the warm home discount.

Gregory Barker: The Warm Home Discount Regulations 2011 include a range of working age means tested benefits which energy suppliers may choose to use to provide support to the Broader Group of the warm home discount scheme. The Broader Group is designed to require suppliers to provide support in the form of energy bill discounts to a wider group of low income households than those low income pensioners assisted under the Core Group of the warm home discount scheme. Broader Group scheme eligibility criteria are set by each energy supplier, although each scheme requires approval by Ofgem. This year suppliers are required to spend a minimum of £47 million on providing support to the Broader Group, assisting at least 360,000 low income and vulnerable households.
	Invalidity benefit was replaced by incapacity benefit in 1995. Around 1.5 million incapacity benefit recipients are being reassessed to see if they are eligible for contributory employment and support allowance. Incapacity benefit claimants will not miss out on the warm home discount because of the reassessment programme as they may still qualify if they are currently eligible for income support. The qualifying working age means tested benefits laid down in the regulations are income support, income-related ESA and income-based JSA.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what mechanisms are in place to identify recipients of universal credit who are eligible for the warm home discount.

Gregory Barker: The warm home discount scheme uses regulation-making powers under the Pension Act 2008 to introduce regulations which allow for a data-matching scheme to identify pensioners on a subset of pension credit to receive a discount on their electricity bill. The introduction of universal credit will not affect the identification of recipients of pension credit for the Core Group of warm home discount.
	The Warm Home Discount scheme Regulations 2011 also include a range of working age means-tested benefits which energy suppliers may choose to use to provide support to the Broader Group. The Broader Group requires energy suppliers to provide support in the form of discounts on their electricity bill to a wider group of low income households. For Broader Group schemes, eligibility criteria are set by each energy supplier but are required to be approved by Ofgem. The list of working age benefits set out in the regulations will be amended to include universal credit.
	Broader Group schemes require an application from customers to their participating energy supplier. In order to support this, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) provide a verification service to the energy suppliers where information on working age benefits is used to provide an eligibility check. We are working closely with DWP to ensure the introduction of universal credit works smoothly with our schemes and continues to target the support available at those most in need while reflecting the eligibility criteria currently within the schemes' legislation.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Hull are currently in receipt of disability living allowance; how many of those receive the mobility component; how many receive cars through Motability; how many have been assessed in the last six months; and how many outstanding assessments of people in Hull will need to be completed before the transfer to personal independence payments.

Esther McVey: Information relating to the numbers of disability living allowance (DLA) recipients in the three parliamentary constituencies of Hull, including the number with a Motability vehicle, is contained in Table 1.
	The Department only holds information on DLA new claims that have been assessed or are waiting to be assessed at Great Britain (GB) level. Table 2 provides information on the number of DLA new claims assessed in the previous six months and those outstanding, at GB level, as at 31 October 2012.
	
		
			 Table 1 
			  Total number of those in receipt of DLA Total number of those in receipt of higher rate mobility component Total number of those in receipt of lower rate mobility component Total number of DLA claimants not in receipt of either mobility component Total number of those DLA claimants with a motability vehicle 
			 Kingston upon Hull North 5,930 3,520 1,650 760 1,138 
			 Kingston upon Hull East 6,230 3,840 1,620 780 1,067 
			 Kingston upon Hull and Hessle 5,740 3,370 1,730 650 955 
			 Total 17,900 10,730 5,000 2,190 3,160 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. Information on Motability vehicles supplied by Motability Scheme. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2 
			  Total number of DLA new claims assessed from 1 May 2012 to 31 October 2012 Total number of DLA new claims awaiting assessment as at 31 October 2012 
			 National GB Data 219,900 39,700 
			 Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Data are Great Britain level Source: Department for Work and Pensions—RDA60209, RDA60205 and RDA80123 reports—Disability Living Allowance Management Information Statistics

Employment and Support Allowance

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2012, Official Report, column 57W, on employment and support allowance (ESA), whether it is his policy that these arrangements will continue following the introduction of mandatory reassessments so that claimants receive ESA while their reconsideration is pending.

Mark Hoban: Following the introduction of mandatory reassessments, employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants who have been found fit for work will not receive ESA while their claim is pending reconsideration, but will do so if an appeal is subsequently lodged.

Epilepsy

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions his Department has had with epilepsy disability organisations on the personal independence payment.

Esther McVey: Throughout the development of the personal independence payment we have engaged and consulted with a wide range of disability organisations. This included a discussion with Epilepsy Action on the personal independence payment assessment criteria.
	We are also working with disability stakeholder organisations on personal independence payment delivery issues through the implementation stakeholder forum. Disability organisations who support people with a wide range of disabilities are represented on this forum. We are keeping this group up to date on personal independence payment developments on a regular basis.

Future Jobs Fund: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received assistance through the Future Jobs Fund in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The Future Jobs Fund lasted between October 2009 and March 2011. Overall there were 450 starts to Future Jobs Fund vacancies in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency: 40 starts in 2009, 310 starts in 2010 and 100 starts in 2011. Note that since placements usually lasted for six months, people who started in one year (e.g. 2009) might still be receiving assistance in the next year (e.g. 2010), so the number of starts in 2010 and 2011 will be different to the number of people receiving assistance in 2010 and 2011.

Housing Benefit: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of how many people in Hull will have their housing benefit reduced in the benefit changes due to come into effect in April 2013.

Steve Webb: The information is not available to estimate the number of households affected in Hull by all the forthcoming housing benefit changes. However, tables showing the number of households who will be affected by the benefit cap, by local authority, was placed in the Library and can be found at:
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1447/LocalAuthoritybreakdownaffectedbybenefitcap.doc
	In both of the tables household numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Areas with fewer than 100 households affected are denoted by “..”, as additional disclosure control has been applied to these areas. For this reason, figures will not sum to the total number of households affected in the July 2012 Impact Assessment for the household benefit cap.
	These estimates assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme to move as many into work as possible. Therefore, these figures are subject to change prior to the policy being implemented from April 2013.

Occupational Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the size of pension scheme where economies of scale are exhausted; and what proportion of schemes under pot follow members will be below that size.

Steve Webb: In its recent strategy to reinvigorate workplace pensions, the Department stated that it is keen to examine, with the pensions industry, the potential benefits of economies of scale in pension schemes, how to bring this about, and what, if any, role there is for the Government in doing so.
	If, for any reason, a scheme member does not want their pension pot to follow them to a new employer's scheme, they will be free to opt out.

Procurement

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the success of introducing schedule 10 into his Department's standard contract for services in July 2011; what assessment he has made of the change in the cost-base of the affected contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The schedule 10 (Apprenticeships and Skills Requirements) is a mandatory schedule in the DWP standard terms and conditions for all service contracts with a value over £10,000. Its inclusion is also considered when using other Government Department's contracts or frameworks.
	DWP do not require bidders to break down their pricing proposal to detail specific costs resulting from the inclusion of the schedule. The overall contract cost is considered as part of the evaluation process to ensure the contract gives DWP the best value for money.
	The supplier is contractually required to provide an annual report. As yet we do not have systems in place to analyse these on a departmental basis. Additionally, through our key supplier forum, we intend to ask our partners to provide greater visibility of the metrics on apprenticeships enabling us to track this on an ongoing basis.

Social Security Benefits

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to the potential effect of the benefit cap on people who are resident in women's refuges.

Mark Hoban: There is no reason why people in refuges should be wholly exempt from the benefit cap. However, we recognise that there are extra costs associated with refuges that require additional support. That is why we have announced that housing support for claimants resident in women's refuges which are classed as supported exempt accommodation will be provided outside of universal credit. We are still considering whether these payments should be taken into account when determining whether the benefit cap should be applied to a household.
	Before claimants resident in women's refuges are migrated to universal credit they will continue to receive housing benefit which will be subject to the benefit cap. Discretionary housing payments will be available if claimants are unable to meet all their supported housing costs because they have been capped. We have increased the discretionary housing payment budget with up to an additional £75 million in 2013-14 and up to £45 million in 2014-15 for households affected by the cap. DWP will be working closely with local authorities to ensure these claimants are offered the appropriate help.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent assessment is of the number of households in London whose income will be reduced by the operation of the benefit cap; and for how many of them the weekly reduction will be (a) less than £20, (b) between £20 and £39.99, (c) between £40 and £59.99, (d) between £60 and £79.99, (e) between £80 and £99.99 and (f) over £100.

Mark Hoban: Around 27,600 households in the London region will see their income reduced by the operation of the benefit cap. The following table shows for how many households the weekly reduction in benefit will be (a) less than £20, (b) between £20 and £39.99, (c)between £40 and £59.99, (d) between £60 and £79.99, (e) between £80 and £99.99 and (f) over £100.
	
		
			 Reduction in benefit (per week) Number of households 
			 Less than £20 4,300 
			 Between £20 to £39.99 4,700 
			 Between £40 to £59.99 3,000 
			 Between £60 to £79.99 2,600 
			 Between £80 to £99.99 2,300 
			 Over 100 10,800 
			 Note: Rounded to the nearest 100. Figures may not round to the total number of households affected in London due to rounding. 
		
	
	The figures presented above are consistent with the recent impact assessment published on 16 July 2012. In making these estimates we assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme to move as many into work as possible. Therefore, please note that these figures are subject to change prior to the policy being implemented in April 2013.

Social Security Benefits: Older People

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will introduce a voluntary, opt-in system to allow individuals to decide for themselves whether to receive those benefits for the elderly which are currently distributed automatically to all qualifying persons.

Steve Webb: DWP pays winter fuel payments and cold weather payments automatically to older people. Almost all winter fuel payments are paid automatically to eligible people without the need for a claim form. This is the most simple and efficient method of paying over 12 million people over a few weeks. Introducing an opt-in process would add significantly to operational costs. There would also be a risk that some of the most vulnerable people would lose out because they had not opted in. Any person who does not wish to receive a winter fuel payment may contact the Department to ask that it is no longer sent to them.
	Cold weather payments are sent to the poorest and most vulnerable households in weeks of very cold weather, providing immediate help with the cost of heating. We have no plans to change how we make these payments.

Universal Credit

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that provisions in the Universal Credit Regulations 2012 do not penalise part-time self-employed workers.

Mark Hoban: If a claimant is in a group expected to look for and be available for work while in receipt of universal credit and DWP identifies that self-employment is their main form of employment, they will be required to attend a gateway interview to determine whether they are gainfully self-employed. If they are deemed to be gainfully self-employed they will be exempt from work search and work availability requirements so that they can focus on their business. A minimum income floor will ensure that claimants have an incentive to increase their earnings and productivity, and realise their financial potential.
	Those who are not deemed to be gainfully self-employed will be required to look for and be available for work in the same way as employed or unemployed claimants with similar circumstances. Subject to agreement with their adviser, their self-employed activity may be taken into account when setting work related requirements.
	Those who are not expected to look for or be available for work, for example because they are caring for a child under the age of one or because they have limited capability for work, will be able to carry on self-employed activity and will simply be required to report their earnings monthly.

Universal Credit

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department expects will be saved through reduced expenditure on childcare costs through benefits and tax credits following the extension of the disadvantaged two year old offer to 40 per cent of two year olds; and whether he plans to use these savings to extend entitlement to childcare through the current benefits system, or through the provision of additional childcare support under universal credit.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 305W.

Universal Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the staff costs of assisting people who are not computer-literate to apply for universal credit.

Mark Hoban: DWP is working with local authorities and local government associations to define the full range of support that will be available to claimants who need assistance in claiming universal credit. An estimate of the total cost of delivering these services will be available when this support has been fully defined.

Universal Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of how many people receiving universal credit will not be computer-literate.

Mark Hoban: A survey of working age benefit and tax credit recipients found that 78% already use the internet. Appropriate support will be provided for those claimants who need additional help to transact online.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which recommendations made by Professor Malcolm Harrington in his Year One, Year Two and Year Three independent reviews of the work capability assessment have been implemented by the Government in full.

Mark Hoban: All of the recommendations from the first independent review of the work capability assessment have been implemented; an update on all of the recommendations from the second year have been published at Annex B of the Government's response to the third independent review
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wca-review-2012-response.pdf
	As Professor Harrington's third review was only published on 20 November none of the recommendations from that review have yet been implemented. The Government accepted or accepted principle all of the recommendations from the review and they will be implemented as quickly as possible subject to feasibility work.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will implement in the Work programme the commitment in the Government's Open Public Services White Paper that providers of public services from all sectors will need to publish information on user satisfaction; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  with reference to the publication of the first outcome data from the Work Programme and the Government's Open Public Services White Paper that providers of public services from all sectors will need to publish information on performance, if he will lift the ban on publication by Work programme providers of their performance data.

Mark Hoban: The Department has no plans to oblige providers to collect user satisfaction data or to share it if they collect it on their own initiative. Instead, the Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Work programme, exploring participants' experiences and outcomes. The first report was published on 27 November; a final report will be published in 2014-15.
	Furthermore, the Department does not prevent providers sharing performance data, except where to do so would contravene the rules on pre-empting official statistics.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total expenditure within the Work programme has been on (a) attachment fees, (b) job outcome payments, (c) sustainable payments and (d) other payments to providers in each month since the programme started.

Mark Hoban: The following table sets out total expenditure for the Work programme from the start of the programme through to 31 July 2012, i.e. the period covered by the Statistical Release.
	Data Source:
	DWP Resource Management System (General Ledger)
	
		
			 Work programme 
			 £ million 
			  2011 2012 
			  Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Total 
			 Attachments 8.9 41.4 29.2 31.4 24.1 26.6 25.7 26.2 26.9 25.9 16.1 16.4 14.7 15.2 328.7 
			 Outcomes 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.7 1.4 3.2 4.1 0.5 10.7 7.7 7.9 36.3 
			 Sustainments 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 1.0 (0.5) 3.4 3.5 5.1 13.0 
		
	
	
		
			 Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Total 8.9 41.4 29.2 31.4 24.1 26.8 26.5 27.7 30.5 31.0 16.1 30.5 25.8 28.2 377.9 
			 Notes: 1. The data series does not extend beyond July 2012 because financial information cannot be published which goes beyond that covered by the Work programme official statistics as this would compromise the next release of official statistics and would breach UK Statistics authority guidelines. 2. The credit of £0.5 million seen against sustainment payments in April 2012 is a result of the shift from a clerical payment process to the current electronic payment process using Provider Referral and Payment System (PRaP) in April 2012. To avoid duplicate payments to providers over this transition period a process was put in place which affected the timing of payments but successfully mitigated against duplicate payments.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations of the Children's Commissioner's report Silent Voices—supporting children and young people affected by parental alcohol misuse.

Anna Soubry: The Department of Health shares responsibility with the Department for Education for supporting children and young people affected by parental alcohol misuse.
	We are aware of the recommendations in the Children's Commissioner's report ‘Silent Voices—supporting children and young people affected by parental alcohol misuse’.
	The report is of great value in highlighting gaps in knowledge and evidence.
	We welcome the positive recognition of improvements in Government policy over the last 10 to 15 years, as well as the suggestions for further development in policy, including a broad approach that recognises the needs of all children affected by alcohol misuse, not just those who are most vulnerable.
	The Government's approach to alcohol was brought together in the Government's Alcohol Strategy, published on 23 March. The strategy sets out a broad range of actions to support young people and their parents, as well as investment to turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families in the country.
	The National Institute for Health Research is funding several research studies in the priority areas highlighted in the Commissioner's research recommendations.
	The Government will continue to give consideration to the issues identified in the report.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to primary care trusts on the effect on children of parental alcohol misuse.

Anna Soubry: The Alcohol Learning Centre website includes a range of current guidance and evidence of good practice for national health service bodies and local authorities, including “Joint Guidance on Development of Local Protocols between Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services and Local Safeguarding and Family Services”, published in November 2009.
	Guidance on the commissioning of alcohol services, “Signs for Improvement: Commissioning Interventions to Reduce alcohol-related harm”, published in February 2010, stresses the importance of effective local partnerships between drug and alcohol teams and children's trusts.
	From April 2013, commissioning of drug and alcohol treatment services will be the responsibility of local authorities, supported by Public Health England.

Ambulance Services: West Midlands

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the West Midlands Ambulance Service's performance in respect of the Ambulance Clinical Quality Indicators 2011-12.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not monitor ambulance trusts against the clinical outcomes. It does monitor system indicators, including response times, which show that West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust achieved all the required standards in September 2012, the most recent period for which data are available.

Armed Forces: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many former service personnel were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in England in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected by the national health service in England.
	This Government considers the health and wellbeing of armed forces personnel, veterans and their families to be a top priority. The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), published his review of mental health services for veterans in October 2010, and funding of £7.2 million was put in place to implement his recommendations. As a result, England as a whole now benefits from a number of enhanced services targeted at veterans' mental health and wellbeing. These include the 24-hour veterans' mental health helpline run by Rethink, in partnership with Combat Stress; Combat Stress is also funded up to £16 million through to 2015 to provide specialist post-traumatic stress disorder treatment through a six-week programme; the emotional health support service Big White Wall; and a general practitioner awareness-raising e-learning package run with the Royal College of General Practitioners. In addition, enhanced veterans' mental health support services have been put in place across the country, with additional NHS mental health professionals providing support to veterans.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the mortality rate is of contaminated blood patients in the (a) stage 1 and (b) stage 2 category.

Anna Soubry: The following table shows the number of known deaths, as at 23 November 2012, in each calendar year for recipients of a Skipton Fund Limited stage 2 payment, since it began making payments in 2004.
	
		
			 Calendar year Number of known deaths in that year(1) 
			 2004 38 
			 2005 33 
			 2006 27 
			 2007 23 
			 2008 24 
			 2009 35 
			 2010 41 
			 2011 43 
			 2012(2) 41 
			 (1) Data supplied by Skipton Fund Limited. (2) Up to 23 November 2012. 
		
	
	There are a number of uncertainties in these data. These include some estimated dates of death and a further 203 stage two beneficiaries whose status is unknown. This is because the Skipton Fund did not maintain regular contact with beneficiaries before the introduction of regular payments in 2011, and no longer has up to date contact details for them.
	There are no equivalent consistent data held for recipients of a stage one payment, as neither the Skipton Fund Limited, nor the Department, are routinely notified of these deaths.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which groups and individuals his Department consulted before taking the decision not to award ongoing payments to contaminated blood patients with HCV stage 1.

Anna Soubry: During the course of the Department's review of the support available to individuals infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV by NHS-supplied blood transfusions or blood products and their dependants in the autumn of 2010, my predecessor and departmental officials sought views from the Haemophilia Society, Tainted Blood and the Manor House Group, as well as a number of individuals who have been affected by hepatitis C. The Department also convened an expert group of clinical and scientific experts to provide advice on the natural history of hepatitis C infection. The expert advice which Ministers received during the course of the review informed the decision not to change the existing Skipton Fund stage 1 payment. Details can be found in the report of the ‘Review of the Support Available to Individuals Infected with Hepatitis C and/or HIV by NHS-Supplied Blood Transfusions or Blood Products and their Dependants’, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department received from its expert working group on contaminated blood on the provision of ongoing payments to HCV stage 1 patients.

Anna Soubry: The purpose of the expert group was not to advise the Department on potential changes to the Skipton Fund, but to provide independent clinical and scientific advice on the natural history of hepatitis C infection. The group made no comment about the provision of ongoing payments to HCV stage 1 patients.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on providing ongoing support payments to contaminated blood patients who have either HIV or HCV stage 2; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: This Government have committed to provide ongoing financial support, as set out in the statement made by the then Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), on 10 January 2011, Official Report, column 33.

Cancer

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 458W, on cancer, what the increase in funding of cancer networks will be in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Anna Soubry: Funding for cancer, cardiac and stroke networks, which is provided via the strategic health authority (SHA) bundle, is £33.6 million in 2012-13. £18.5 million of this funding is allocated for cancer networks, although it is for individual SHAs to determine how the total amount they receive in the bundle is allocated to specific services, taking into account the needs of local populations.
	The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) has allocated £42 million to support strategic clinical networks and clinical senates in 2013-14. The NHS CB has yet to confirm how many cancer strategic clinical networks it will establish from 2013-14, so it is not possible to directly compare funding for cancer networks between the two years.
	The NHS CB has made no decision about allocations for 2014-15.

Chronic Illnesses

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the Long Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy.

Norman Lamb: Long-term conditions are one of the Secretary of State for Health’s priority areas and this was reflected in the prominence with which they featured in the mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board. Following the publication of the mandate we are working with the NHS Commissioning Board to agree the best way to Improve care for people with long-term conditions including how best to develop the Long-Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy.

Dementia

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he will give from April 2013 to clinical commissioning groups on the provisions of facilities for dementia patients; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: From April 2013, guidance to Clinical Commissioning Groups will be issued by the NHS Commissioning Board.
	To support an improvement in diagnosis rates of dementia, the Department has developed an analytical model toolkit which will support Clinical Commissioning Groups to improve their dementia diagnosis rate and commission sufficient memory services.

Dementia: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the provision of care for dementia patients in Peterborough constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Improving the quality of care for people with dementia and their carers is a priority for this Government. However, it is for primary care trusts to decide how to deliver the National Dementia Strategy as set out in the NHS Operating Framework.
	On 26 March, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia, which will increase diagnosis rates, raise awareness and understanding and double funding for research by 2015. The Challenge sets out renewed ambition to go further and faster, building on progress made through the National Dementia Strategy, to secure greater improvements in dementia care and research so that people with dementia, their carers and families get the services and support they need.

Dental Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of practising dentists worked for the NHS in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: Information is not collected centrally on the total numbers of practising dentists.
	Information is available on hospital and community health service dentists and high street dentists who have provided national health services dental services in each of the last five years. This information is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 NHS primary care dentists (high street dentists) and hospital and community health service (HCHS) dental staff, for England 2007 to 2012—England 
			 Headcount 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 NHS dentists (high street dentists)(1) 20,160 20,815 21,343 22,003 22,799 22,920 
			 HCHS dental staff(2, 3) 3,940 4,221 4,342 4,035 4,030 n/a 
			 n/a = Data not available (1) NHS dentists (high street dentists) are defined as performers with any NHS activity recorded by FP17 forms during each financial year ending 31 March. Data consist of performers in general dental services, personal dental services and trust-led dental services. (2) HCHS dental staff are as at 30 September each year. Data for September 2012 are not yet available. (3) A new headcount methodology for HCHS data was introduced in 2010, due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Data prior to 2010 are not directly comparable. Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes impact on figures already published, this is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: 1. Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census 2. NHS Dental Services of the NHS Business Services Authority.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to increase the number of specially trained diabetes nurses;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the NHS Commissioning Board on the provision of specially trained diabetes nurses;
	(3)  how many specially trained diabetes nurses there are in each primary care trust in England.

Anna Soubry: The current number of diabetic specialist nurses employed by the national health service is not collected centrally. The annual work force census does not separately identify specialist nurses.
	The Government consider that diabetes specialist nurses are an essential part of the diabetes specialist team and have a valuable part to play in supporting people with diabetes. It is local health care organisations, with their knowledge of the health care needs of their local populations, that are best placed to determine the work force required to deliver safe patient care within their available resources.
	The national health service reforms present an opportunity for stronger, closer partnership working between the new primary care commissioners and secondary care specialists, ensuring that evidence-based multi-disciplinary care is commissioned and is focused on the needs of the individual patient.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is planning to take to reduce the number of delayed diagnosis of children with type 1 diabetes.

Anna Soubry: We welcome the recent launch by Diabetes UK of a new children and young person's campaign called the 4 Ts of diabetes—Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner—which seeks to raise awareness of the four most common symptoms of Type 1 diabetes and ensure prompt diagnosis.
	NHS Diabetes have a children and young people’s network, which works with health care professionals in raising awareness of the typical and atypical signs and symptoms of diabetes in children.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to introduce a nationwide campaign to raise diabetes awareness.

Anna Soubry: The Government have no plans to introduce a nationwide campaign to raise awareness specific to diabetes. The three-year marketing strategy (2011-14) for Change4Life describes how the Change4Life social marketing programme will support local authorities; the national health service and community leaders in response to the emerging evidence base and policy priorities for obesity, which is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
	We welcome the recent launch by Diabetes UK of a new children and young persons campaign called the 4 Ts of diabetes—Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner—which seeks to raise awareness of the four most common symptoms of Type 1 diabetes.
	In addition we welcome the use of local demographic analyses to find and target effort towards communities who may be particularly at risk of type 2 diabetes. Health communities and charities have developed a number of regional and minority community schemes to improve awareness about type 2 diabetes in particular target groups.

Diabetes

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Havering have been diagnosed with diabetes in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The Quality and Outcomes Framework collects the number of people recorded on practice disease registers. For diabetes this relates to patients aged 17 and over who are diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes—a measure of prevalence rather than, incidence.
	Information relating to the prevalence of diabetes in patients aged 17 and over in Havering during the period specified is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  List size Estimated 17+ list size Diabetes Mellitus (Diabetes) Register (ages 17+) 
			 2011-12 257,279 207,253 11,485 
			 2010-11 255,944 206,087 11424 
			 2009-10 254,173 204,651 10,500 
			 2008-09 246,946 n/a 9,945 
			 2007-08 250,662 n/a 9,793 
			 n/a = not available Source: Quality and Outcomes Framework

Diabetes

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress his Department has made in developing the companion document on diabetes to the Long Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy;
	(2)  what recent discussion he has had with the diabetes community on the Long Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy.

Anna Soubry: The Diabetes Advisory Group last met on 21 November to discuss this document, which is near completion, and arrangements for its publication. We are intending it to form part of the Government's response to the Public Accounts Committee report on diabetes which we expect to be published by HM Treasury in the new year.

Doctors: Foreign Workers

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in ensuring that doctors working in the UK have adequate language skills.

Daniel Poulter: The Department plans to strengthen the law on language checks for overseas doctors working in the United Kingdom. Responsible officers in England will have an explicit duty to ensure that any doctor appointed to a health care post has the necessary clinical competence and language skills for the job
	Options are also currently being explored for an amendment to the Medical Act to provide the General Medical Council with more explicit powers to take action where concerns arise about the communication skills of doctors.

Eyes: Diseases

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with (a) diabetic retinopathy, (b) glaucoma, (c) cataracts and (d) age related macular degeneration in (i) Plymouth and (ii) Devon in 2011.

Daniel Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows finished consultant episodes (FCEs) with a named primary or secondary diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration for Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Devon PCT of residence for 2011-12.
	
		
			 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  5QQ: Devon PCT 5F1: Plymouth Teaching PCT 
			 Diabetic retinopathy 1,255 484 
			 Glaucoma 2,975 858 
			 Cataracts 7,765 2,110 
		
	
	
		
			 Macular degeneration 2,606 870 
			 Notes: 1. Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 2. Number of episodes in which the patient had a (named) primary or secondary diagnosis The number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record. 3. Diabetic Retinopathy CD-10 codes used to identify diabetic retinopathy. Each of the following codes must be immediately followed by H36.0 (H36.0 A Diabetic retinopathy): E10.3 D Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with ophthalmic complications E11.3 D Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with ophthalmic complications E12.3 D Malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus with ophthalmic complications E13.3 D Other specified diabetes mellitus with ophthalmic complications E14.3 D Unspecified diabetes mellitus with ophthalmic complications Additional Information: In 2009-10, the National Diabetes Audit reported a Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment prevalence rate of 0.42% against the 1,929,985 registrations received from primary and secondary care. Participation in the National Diabetes Audit (NDA), which audits diabetes registrations in primary and secondary care, is not mandatory ie the NDA does not have 100% coverage or participation. In 2009-10 the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) had 2,338,813 registered diabetics, QOF data only contains patients aged 17 years and over with diabetes mellitus and does not contain the clinical information needed to answer this PQ. 4. Glaucoma ICD-10 codes used to identify glaucoma: H40.—Glaucoma Q15.0 Congenital glaucoma H40.2 Primary angle-closure glaucoma H40.1 Primary open-angle glaucoma In order to be included, the following set of codes must be immediately followed by H42.8 (Glaucoma in other diseases classified elsewhere) A18.5D Tuberculosis of eye A52.7D Other symptomatic late syphilis B73.XD Onchocerciasis Q13.1D Absence of iris In order to be included, the following set of codes must be immediately followed by H42.0 (Glaucoma in endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases) E34.9D Endocrine disorder, unspecified E72.0D Disorders of amino-acid transport E85.—D Amyloidosis E88.9D Metabolic disorder, unspecified 5. Cataracts ICD-10 codes used to identify cataracts: H25.—Senile cataract H26.—Other cataract H28.0A Diabetic cataract (must be preceded by one of the following codes E10.3, E11.3, E12.3, E13.3 or E14.3 in order to be included). In order to be included, the following two codes should only appear in a secondary diagnosis position: H28.1A Cataract in other endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases H28.2A Cataract in other diseases classified elsewhere 6. Macular Degeneration It is not possible to identify age-related macular degeneration using HES data. The ICD-10 code used to identify macular degeneration is: H35.3 Degeneration of macula and posterior pole 7. PCT of residence The primary care trust (PCT) containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another strategic health authority/PCT for treatment. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Family Planning

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department has spent on family planning education (a) nationwide and (b) in Havering in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The Department of Health provides information about contraception to people of all ages. The main route for getting information to the public is the NHS Choices website, which includes a number of pages on contraception, but it is not possible to separately identify these costs.
	The Department also funds the Family Planning Association to produce information on sexual health for the public and for healthcare professionals. The costs of their Sexual Health Direct service during the last five years are given in the following table and cover sexual health, not just contraception, as it is not possible to separately identify the precise spending on contraception information.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2008-09 1.320 
			 2009-10 1.329 
			 2010-11 1.343 
			 2011-12 1.376 
			 2012-13 0.572 
		
	
	The Department has provided information on contraception as part of a number of marketing campaigns, including the ‘Sex. Worth Talking About’ campaign, which ran from November 2009 to March 2010. The campaign encouraged open, honest conversations about all aspects of sex, relationships and sexual health. The campaign featured two sub-strands, including one on contraception, ‘Contraception. Worth Talking About’. Advertising media costs for this strand of the campaign were £3,905,321 in 2009-10 and no further spending on this campaign took place after that date.
	Havering Primary Care Trust may have provided additional information and education on contraception, but the Department holds no information on these costs.
	Young people both in Havering and nationwide will also have received education about contraception as part of wider programmes of sex and relationships education (SRE). Responsibility for SRE lies with the Department for Education.

Foetal Anticonvulsant Syndrome

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of foetal anti-convulsant syndrome were diagnosed in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Foetal Anticonvulsant Syndrome

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote awareness of the risks of foetal anti-convulsant syndrome to (a) medical professionals and (b) pregnant mothers taking epilepsy drugs.

Daniel Poulter: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health responsible for ensuring that medicines are acceptably safe and effective in their licensed indications. Part of the remit of the MHRA is to ensure that the information associated with the medicine and provided to healthcare professionals (the Summary of Product Characteristics, SmPC) and to patients (the Patient Information Leaflet, PIL) is accurate and up to date.
	The MHRA has regularly reviewed the evidence on anti-epileptic drug use in women of child bearing age since the time of licensing and continually reassesses the information provided in the SmPC and PIL in light of new data from all sources, including the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Registry. Where appropriate, new data are included in updated prescribing and patient information to best inform the decision-making process between health care professionals and patients.
	The current product information for all anti-epileptic products contains detailed advice in relation to its use during pregnancy. Women of childbearing potential being treated for epilepsy are currently advised that they should not be started on an anti-epileptic without specialist neurological advice and that the benefits of its use should be weighed against the known risks to the foetus.
	Information on possible side effects which may occur in the offspring of women with epilepsy who are treated with anti-epileptics during pregnancy, including the characteristic features of ‘foetal anticonvulsant syndrome’ are also outlined in the product information. In addition, the British National Formulary provides prescribers, pharmacists and other health care professionals with independent, detailed and up-to-date information about the use of anti-epileptics during pregnancy.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published a clinical guideline covering the diagnosis, treatment and management of epilepsies in adults and children. This clinical guideline specifically covers the treatment and management of epilepsy in pregnancy.

Health Services

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for which responsibilities and duties for areas of activity currently undertaken by primary care trusts he has yet to identify which agencies will be responsible after April 2013.

Anna Soubry: The Department has put in place a rigorous transition programme which is ensuring that detailed functions are mapped across from primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities to the relevant bodies in the new system.
	There are currently 18 unallocated functions still to be decided. These are limited to localised PCT functions and do not affect the PCTs, individual operational or statutory duties. Work is under way locally to resolve the future hosting of these functions on a case by case basis.

Health Services: Midlands

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with Healthier Together South East Midlands.

Daniel Poulter: I met Simon Wood, Programme Director of Healthier Together South East Midlands, on 8 November 2012. This meeting was arranged in preparation for the adjournment debate on the ‘Future of Kettering Hospital' on 9 November 2012, by my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone).

Health Services: Midlands

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what written communication has taken place between his Department and Healthier Together South East Midlands; and if he will publish those communications.

Daniel Poulter: There has been no written communication between the Department and Healthier Together South East Midlands.

Health Services: Older People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of progress towards preparing the NHS to deal with the implications of an ageing population.

Norman Lamb: The number of older people in the United Kingdom is projected to rise substantially over the coming decades and this increase will have a significant effect on health spending. The Department has been and will continue to monitor the implications for the national health service of this pressure. Last month, the Department committed to going further and faster on improving the care of older people, through four key priorities:
	Giving Britain some of the best survival rates in Europe for the big killer diseases: cancer, stroke, heart, liver and respiratory disease (mortality);
	Building a health and care system where quality of care is as important as quality of treatment (care);
	Dramatically improving the care for people living with long-term conditions like diabetes, asthma or arthritis—who currently account for more than half of GP appointments and nearly 3A of hospital admissions (long-term conditions); and
	Transforming our care for people with dementia so we become one of the best countries in Europe to grow old (dementia).
	Improving efficiency and productivity in the NHS and social care is crucial to coping with the demographic challenge of an increasing older population. The Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) programme will support the NHS to do this by focusing on areas where it is possible to increase quality and productivity simultaneously.
	The local NHS is best placed to identify the scale of challenge and opportunities for making savings whilst maintaining quality. Each local health economy is working towards their own vision of health system transformation to make efficiency savings whilst continuing to provide quality care to their populations. In addition, there are a limited number of national QIPP work streams, chosen to cover areas in which there is substantial gain to be made from changing the way things are done and where the degree of challenge in making change is sizeable.
	In the first full year of delivery, the NHS has delivered strongly, with efficiency savings of £5.8 billion reported in 2011-12. At the same time, key quality and access ambitions have been maintained or improved:
	infection rates at their lowest since mandatory surveillance was introduced;
	lowest ever level of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for their treatment and both standards met each month; and
	performance measures on accident and emergency, cancer care, and dentistry waiting times have all been met.

HIV Infection

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support his Department is providing to research into finding a cure for HIV/AIDS.

David Willetts: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research.
	The MRC supports a wide portfolio of research into the causes and treatment of HIV/AIDS and in 2010-11 spent £13.8 million on research in this area.
	The MRC's portfolio aims to address the two major challenges in HIV/AIDS research: protection from HIV transmission and treatment of those affected. Protection studies include the design and development of vaccines against HIV, the development of microbicides to inhibit sexual transmission of the virus, through to behavioural intervention studies to understand how to work with high risk communities to modify behaviour. Research on treatment is primarily aimed at better understanding of how to manage antiretroviral therapy and discovering the optimum combinations of drugs for patients at different stages of disease. This is supported by underpinning basic research aimed at improving our understanding of the biology of the virus and immunology of the viral host interaction, as well as epidemiological longitudinal surveillance studies/databases and cohorts.
	Much of the MRC's work in this area is supported in partnership with the Department for International Development.

NHS

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on health and social service authorities adopting local implementation criteria for the delivery of both NHS continuing healthcare and social services funded care.

Norman Lamb: The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing care, Checklist and Decision Support Tool set out the national eligibility criteria for NHS Continuing Healthcare which should not be adapted locally.
	Local authorities currently set their own eligibility threshold for the adult social care services they provide. They should do this in line with the Department's guidelines ‘Prioritising need in the context of Putting People First: A whole system government approach to eligibility for social care, guidance on eligibility criteria for Adult Social Care England 2010’, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library.
	The White Paper ‘Caring for our future: reforming care and support’ set out the Government's intention to introduce a national minimum eligibility threshold for adult social care services across England. Provisions to implement a national eligibility threshold are included in the draft Care and Support Bill. It is intended that this new system will come into force in April 2015.

NHS Commissioning Board

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to ensure that there is transparency regarding the decisions of the NHS Commissioning Board on funding for particular health conditions.

Anna Soubry: The NHS Commissioning Board has strongly committed to transparency as an organisation. Its focus will be on commissioning care and supporting clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to improve outcomes for patients. As a commissioner of local services, the NHS Commissioning Board will work with partners in CCGs and local authorities to produce a joint health and wellbeing strategy to show how the partners intend to improve outcomes for the local community.
	In relation to the specialised services that it will commission, the NHS Commissioning Board is committed to delivering the aims of national transparency and equity. The NHS Commissioning Board has recently published an operating model which aims to secure equity and excellence in provision. This is available on the NHS Commissioning Board's website, at:
	www.commissioningboard.nhs.ukfiles2012/11/-model.pdf

Obesity: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to tackle obesity in Havering;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on the number of people in Havering suffering from obesity.

Anna Soubry: In October 2011, the Government published ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England', which sets out how obesity among children and adults will be tackled in the new public health and NHS systems, and the role of key partners.
	The document sets out details of two new national ambitions for achieving a downward trend in the level of excess weight in children and adults by 2020, and sets out existing and proposed Government actions.
	A copy of the ‘Call to action' has already been placed in the Library.
	There are two sources of data from which relevant information can be obtained about obesity prevalence—the Health Survey for England (HSE) and the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). Neither source can be used to provide information in the exact format requested.
	Information on the prevalence of obese adults (men and women) aged 16 and over by strategic health authority (SHA) for 2010 is available in Table 10.3 of the ‘Health Survey for England—2010: Respiratory health'.
	Information on the prevalence of obese children (boys and girls) aged two to 15 by strategic health authority (SHA) for 2010 is available in Table 11.3 of the ‘Health Survey for England—2010: Respiratory health'.
	Information on the prevalence of obesity in children by government office region, local authority county/unitary authority and local authority district/former district is available in the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) in table 3A and 3B in the excel file accompanying ‘National Child Measurement Programme: England, 2010-11 school year'. However, this information is only available for children in school year Reception (generally aged four and five) and school year 6 (generally aged 10 to 11). The latest year available is 2010-11.
	The above tables have been placed in the Library and can be accessed from the following links.
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse10report
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/national-child-measurement-programme-england-2010-11-school-year

Pancreatic Cancer

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the number of patients who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer through an emergency admission to hospital.

Anna Soubry: We know that around a quarter of cancers—and about half of pancreatic cancers—are diagnosed through emergency routes, and that the survival rates for those diagnosed this way are considerably lower than for other cancer patients.
	If we are to improve survival rates and achieve our goal of saving 5,000 additional lives from cancer each year by 2014-15 then we need to detect the symptoms of cancer earlier and reduce the number of patients diagnosed via an emergency route. To support earlier diagnosis of cancer we have provided more than £450 million over the spending review period to improve general practitioner (GP) access to key diagnostic tests; support campaigns to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and to encourage people to visit their GP when they have persistent symptoms; to support GPs in making decisions to refer; and to pay for more treatment and testing in secondary care.
	We know that some cancers can be difficult to diagnose, often because their symptoms are shared with more common, benign conditions. In January, we are planning to pilot a general symptom awareness campaign that will be relevant to a range of cancers, including pancreatic cancer. The campaign will encourage people with relevant symptoms to go to their GP and we will be working with primary care in the pilot sites to agree appropriate referral pathways.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in England in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.

Norman Lamb: This information is not collected centrally. According to the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (Table 3.1), the estimated prevalence (percentage) of trauma and current post-traumatic stress disorder among people living in private households in England is 3%.

Schizophrenia

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to improve treatment and outcomes for people with schizophrenia.

Norman Lamb: We know more needs to be done for people with severe mental illness.
	The Mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board identifies support for people with long-term mental health conditions as a priority area. The board is tasked with ensuring people have access to the right treatment when they need it; ensuring that people with mental health problems are offered a personalised care plan that reflects their preferences and agreed decisions; and putting mental health on a par with physical health, and closing the health gap between people with mental health problems and the population as a whole. By March 2015, we expect the board and the national health service to demonstrate measurable progress towards achieving true parity of esteem, where everyone who needs it has timely access to evidence-based services.
	There are four indicators in the latest NHS Outcomes Framework 2013-14 which relate specifically to mental health (premature mortality in people with serious mental illness, employment of people with mental illness, psychological therapies and patient experience of community mental health services).
	Improving outcomes for mental health patients will also be a crucial element of success for many of the indicators which relate to all patients.

Spinal Injuries

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which hospital trusts with spinal cord injury centres have had their funding allocation reduced over the last two years;
	(2)  what the change in the proportion of funding spent by each hospital trust on its spinal cord injury centre has been since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold the information requested centrally and it is a matter for the local national health service. Financial allocations are made to primary care trusts (PCTs), not hospital trusts. Over the three years 2010-11 to 2012-13 combined, recurrent allocations to PCTs increased by £8.8 billion. The Government always expect NHS resources to be directed to frontline patient care, but it is for PCTs to decide how much of this allocation they will use to fund hospitals, primary care, community care and ambulance services.
	Specialised Commissioning Groups, which are joint committees of PCTs, commission services from spinal cord injury centres locally.
	Information has been provided by South of England Specialised Commissioning Group (SCG) on behalf of the four SCGs. The figures in the following table for 2011-12 and 2012-13 show the funding agreed with providers at the beginning of the year and reflect planned and contracted activity in spinal cord injury centres. Information for 2010-11 is not held by South of England SCG.
	
		
			  2011-12 (£) 2012-13 (£) Percentage change 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital 6,226,775 6,429,738 3.16 
			 Salisbury District General 6,448,331 6,748,231 4.44 
			 Buckinghamshire Healthcare 17,968,237 17,953,404 -0.08 
			 Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District General Hospital, Oswestry 4,285,390 4,307,505 0.51 
			 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals 5,363,363 5,087,997 -5.41 
			 Southport and Formby Hospitals 7,503,000 7,366,000 -1.86 
			 Mid Yorkshire Hospitals 4,059,942 4,086,534 0.65 
			 South Tees Hospitals 4,111,800 4,037,788 -1.83 
			 Total 55,966,838 56,017,197 0.09 
		
	
	Small variations between 2011-12 and 2012-13 reflect the net effect of increases in the number of patients treated and productivity and efficiency saving requirements that all services are expected to deliver against.
	How each NHS Trust and NHS foundation trust uses its contractual income to resource the services that it provides is a matter for the management of that individual NHS body. Information on service-line budgeting by NHS providers in England is not held centrally.

Thromboembolism

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were admitted to hospital with (a) all venous thromboembolisms, (b) deep vein thrombosis and (c) pulmonary embolism by (i) primary care trust and (ii) NHS trust in the latest year for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: ‘Venous thromboembolism' is an umbrella term, but there is no commonly agreed group of codes that can be used to determine the total number of episodes that are considered to be venous thromboembolism.
	Data for admissions to hospital for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) for the year 2011-12 have been placed in the Library.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Arms Trade: Israel

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what UK exports there were of weapons and weapon components to Israel in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 28 November 2012
	We only hold information regarding exports made under certain export licences, not about exports in general.
	Information on arms export licences to all countries, including Israel, is published in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. They are available to view at:
	https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/eng/fox/sdb/SDBHOME
	Currently this includes information up to 30 June 2012. Information covering 1 July to 30 September 2012 will be published in January 2012 and information covering 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2012 will be published in April 2012.

Business: Liverpool

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support he is offering to businesses in Liverpool which are not eligible for funding from the Regional Growth Fund.

Michael Fallon: All businesses in Liverpool are eligible to receive Regional Growth funding, either directly or via programmes, as the Regional Growth Fund makes use of the full flexibilities of the state aid framework and imposes no sector restrictions.
	Businesses in Liverpool are also eligible for support through national initiatives such as Growth Accelerator, Business in You, Business Growth Fund, UKTI Export for Growth and Export Finance. They can also access equity, mezzanine and loan funding through the North West Fund and the support programmes for NW manufacturers being managed by the Manufacturing Advisory Service and the Manufacturing Institute.

Dementia

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support the Prime Minister's dementia challenge and the work of each of the challenge groups; what resources he has committed and what timescales he has set for this work; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills primarily contributes to the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia through the work of the Research Councils. Full details of what the Research Councils have contributed is available in the recently published progress report which can be downloaded from:
	http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/2012/11/08/report-on-progress/
	Highlights of this work include a significant commitment to funding with the Challenge on Dementia committing the Medical Research Council (MRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to increase funding for research into dementia from £26.6 million in 2009/10 to an estimated £66.3 million in 2014/15.
	As part of this, £9.6 million has been provided by the MRC to expand the UK Biobank. This is the first phase of funding with the aim to undertake further studies such as scanning the brains of up to 100,000 Biobank volunteers. The information will help scientists discover why some people develop dementia and others do not. The MRC continues to support the UK Brain Banks Network which is a unique resource of post-mortem brain tissue that can be used for research into dementias. An online database that will describe the sample contents of the entire UK Brain Banks Network is under development, and we hope an initial launch will take place in late 2012, with the database complete by mid-2013.
	The MRC is providing £3 million to promote the participation of UK groups in two new international funding calls, both to be announced in the next few weeks. One is to encourage high-risk/high pay-off research through the international Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) initiative, while the other is seeking to identify risk factors contributing to the dementias and other neurodegenerative disorders, under the Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND) initiative.
	The ESRC and NIHR are working together to support a £13 million initiative to support large research grants for social science research on dementia. 31 outline applications have been received for consideration as full awards, which will start in 2013.
	Other Research Councils also have relevant programmes; for example, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has a research portfolio of approximately £1 million specifically relating to dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.
	Separately from the Research Councils, the UKTI Life Science Investment Organisation (LSIO) is aligning with the Department of Health. Last month I opened an event organised by the UK LSIO to build on the recent success of the Department of Health event ‘UK Dementia Research—Addressing the Global Challenge’. The UK LSIO event maintained the momentum and focused on identifying how we can best package up the UK's capabilities, and presents them to overseas industry, to encourage inward investment in the sector, as well as discussing any barriers to investment.

Departmental Co-ordination

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will work with his ministerial colleagues in other Departments to (a) bring forward infrastructure projects and (b)  assess procurement processes for the purposes of safeguarding (i) jobs in the UK and (ii) British industrial capacity in the steel industry and its supply chain; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The second National Infrastructure Plan identifies a pipeline of over 500 projects costing around £250 billion to 2015 and beyond. This includes more than £1.4 billion in railway infrastructure and commuter links. These projects should make a difference by stimulating demand for steel and thereby creating significant supply chain opportunities for UK steel producers and processors. The Government have published detailed data on the infrastructure pipeline online, along with data on all Government construction projects. In addition, Government Departments are working together to ensure that business has clarity over future public sector contracts. In April of this year we published details of £70 billion of future contracts that are planned across 13 sectors over the next five years. We are working with business, including the steel industry, to use this information to assess the strategic capabilities required in the supply chain.

Employment Agencies

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will review the role of employment agencies in the UK labour market.

Jo Swinson: In 2011 the Government announced that we would consult on reforms to how we regulate the recruitment sector. Our consultation will launch later this year and it will cover the recruitment sector, which is regulated by the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.

Export Credit Guarantees

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average application processing time is for small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to borrow from UK Export Finance.

Michael Fallon: This information is not held and it would involve disproportionate cost to create it. UK Export Finance does not directly lend to companies seeking to export. Its assistance to exporters is principally in the form of insurance policies and guarantees to banks that lend to buyers who purchase supplies from UK exporters.

Export Credit Guarantees

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what average amount of credit from his Department is available to small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to export to (a) Mauritania, (b) Morocco, (c) Algeria, (d) Tunisia, (e) Libya, (f) Egypt, (g) Israel, (h) Lebanon, (i) Jordan, (j) Iraq, (k) Saudi Arabia, (l) Kuwait, (m) Bahrain, (n) Qatar, (o) United Arab Emirates and (p) Oman.
	(2)  what kills what average amount of credit from his Department is available to small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to export to (a) Brazil, (b) India, (c) China and (d) South Africa.

Michael Fallon: UK Export Finance's market risk appetite (that is, the total amount of risk exposure it would be willing to support for new business) for each of those countries can be found on the ‘country cover' page of its website:
	http://www.ukexportfinance.gov.uk/country-cover

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received on the UK becoming a full member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is committed to increasing the transparency of payments that extractive industries make to Governments and is supportive of EU level reporting requirements.
	We have received representation, through correspondence, from the Chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the right hon. Clare Short. Additionally, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has had discussions with the previous Secretary of State for the Department for International Development, the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), on this topic.

Flexible Working

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to allow employees to request flexible working hours from their employers.

Jo Swinson: On 13 November the Deputy Prime Minister announced that we will go ahead with plans to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees (excluding those with the new employee owner status). The extension to all will enable all employees to discuss changes to the way they work with their employer and move the discussion away from why the employee needs to work flexibly, and onto how flexible working will work for the business. We want to make it easier for businesses to employ people; but also for employees to balance work and other commitments. This gives employers the ability to recruit from the widest possible pool of talent, and helps contribute to the UK's skilled and flexible work force.

Higher Education: Blackpool

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many pupils in Blackpool local authority area in receipt of free school meals did not enter higher education in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

David Willetts: The estimated number of pupils from Blackpool local authority with free school meals by higher education status at age 19 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Estimated number of pupils(1) from maintained schools in Blackpool local authority with free school meals at age 15, by higher education status at age 19. UK higher education institutions and English further education colleges 
			 Academic year In HE by age 19 Not in HE by age 19 Total Percentage in HE by age 19 
			 2007/08 25 245 265 9 
			 2008/09 45 225 265 16 
			 2009/10 40 210 250 16 
			 (1) Numbers are rounded to the nearest five; therefore totals may appear inconsistent with the sum of component parts. Percentages are calculated from un-rounded figures. Source: Matched data from the DFE National Pupil Database, the HESA Student Record and the SFA ILR 
		
	
	Information on progression of pupils with free school meals to higher education is available from the BIS Widening Participation statistical release of August 2012.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/analysis/statistics/higher-education/official-statistics-releases/widening-participation-in-higher-education/widening-participation-in-higher-education-2012

Overseas Companies

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage companies originally established in the UK to retain their headquarters here.

Michael Fallon: The Department aims to retain businesses (and their headquarters) located in the UK by making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business by stimulating greater innovation and commercialisation of science and research; reducing regulatory burdens and improving access to finance for business; ensuring markets at home and internationally are fair and efficient in serving businesses and consumers and by working with other Government Departments to improve the UK business environment. The Department also aims to create a more educated work force that is the most flexible in Europe. In addition, the Government cut the main rate of corporation tax to 24% in April this year following last year's fall from 28% to 26%. By 2014 it will reach 22%—the lowest it has ever been and the lowest in the G7.

Regional Growth Fund: Sunderland

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Sunderland which successfully bid for the Regional Growth Fund still have payments outstanding for (a) Round 1, (b) Round 2 and (c) Round 3.

Michael Fallon: I am delighted that the Regional Growth Fund is supporting five significant projects in Sunderland as well as the £30 million North East Local Enterprise Partnership Programme hosted by Sunderland city council.
	A payment is outstanding when a beneficiary has put in a properly documented claim that we have not yet paid. There are no outstanding payments for businesses in Sunderland for Round 1 and Round 2. Selected bidders have only recently been announced for Round 3 and none have yet submitted a claim as they are currently going through the due diligence process. Therefore there are also no payments outstanding for Round 3.

Tata Steel

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will meet representatives of Tata to discuss the future of the UK steel industry.

Michael Fallon: The Department at both ministerial and official level have regular contacts with Tata Steel, including Karl Kohler (chief executive officer), to discuss the company's activities and prospects. Most recently, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills visited the Port Talbot plant on 24 October. BIS Ministers are willing to hold further meetings at the request of Tata Steel.

Unfair Dismissal

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what advice he has received on whether the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Redfearn v. United Kingdom would require a change to legislation in the UK if it becomes final; and whether he plans to appeal the judgment to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 26 November 2012
	The Government is examining the detail of the judgment, which we believe would require a change to UK legislation. We will decide on the way forward shortly.